Critical Mass
by VStheworld
Summary: An alternative direction to New Moon. Taking place after Edward leaves Bella and her and Jacob's relationship start to grow. B and J start dating, Laurent tries to kill Bella, Alice sees, and Bella the Prom Queen? This is mostly in Bella's perspective.
1. Introduction

_**Critical Mass **_**begins with Bella looking for Jacob trying to confront him about his absence from her life. Oh yeah, I don't own stuff or things. **

The phone rang, I got up to answer it expecting it to be Charlie. With my recent lack of friends including my _very _best Jacob, it couldn't be anyone _special _to expect on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" I asked tired and unenthusiastically.

"Bella, I need to talk to you!" I was shocked, it took me a few seconds to say anything. I almost dropped the receiver.

"Ja-Jake, where have you been?! I haven't heard from you in weeks!" I screeched, I could feel all of my pent up emotions start rising up and out of my throat.

"Bella, I know, I'm sorry I can't explain right now but if you could just meet me this afternoon I want to.._.try_ to explain." Jacob sounded desperate and out of breath, I couldn't understand why this was all happening now. "Meet me in La Push by the beach in an hour."

"Jake I'm really not supposed to go near there, my dad says their have been bear attacks, I told him I wouldn't."

Jacob snorted, "Bella, really you don't need to worry about _that_, I'll protect you if any..._bears_ come around. Just meet me there in an hour, that's all I'm asking"

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. "I need answers Jake." I replied angrily.

"And you will get those when you meet me at the beach in an hour." Jacob hung up. I guess I really didn't have another choice. I missed him and really needed the answers to why he was avoiding me.

I didn't want to wait the whole hour, I wrote a note for Charlie to find after he got off work

_Hey Dad I'm with Jacob were going to go get something to eat, leftovers are in fridge, I'll be back in a little while_.

I left the note on the kitchen table, grabbed my coat and headed out to the truck. As I was making my way to La Push it felt like I had a million different theories running through my head of what Jacob was going to tell me. I had to stop thinking all together before I had a panic attack.


	2. Beach

I parked my beat of a truck in the rocks away from the beach. I walked down to the bank, tripping along the way. Jacob wasn't there yet, I was hoping he wouldn't be so I could sit and think a little bit longer before he arrived. I found a piece of driftwood at the shore and sat down staring out into the ocean.

"Bella? How long have you been out here? I hope not long I didn't think you would be here so soon…" The voice surprise me. I jumped up and spun around to see Jacob walking towards me. He seemed nervous and almost shaking.

"Oh Jake!" I went to embrace him but froze. It seemed like he grew ten inches and his body was thick with muscle. "Jake, what's going on, it's only been a few weeks? You look so different!" I reached out to touch his jaw line. He stopped just inches from me, and let me touch his face. He took his hand and grasped mine on his face, his hand and face were burning.

"Bella, I'm sorry how I've been treating you. I have to stay away from you, Sam said it was for the best…" Jacob's worried eyes were staring into mine.

"Sam? This is something to do with Sam? Jake you hate him!…" He stopped me.

"It's not what you think, hell it's not what I thought either. Sam's a _good_ guy Bella, he's been helping me through _this_." Jacob took my hand off his face and was grasping it tightly. His hands were burning, I couldn't get over his physical change.

"Helping with what Jake? What happened? _Puberty_? That_ happens_ to all of us! I thought I lost you…too. I don't understand what I did to make you…"

Jacob interrupted me taking my face in his warm hands. "Bella, you didn't do anything! It wasn't you, Something _strange _is happening with me right now. It's in your best interest not to be around me...for a while."

"You mean Sam won't let you be around me! You mean you're a part of _them_ now, is that what happened? You joined Sam's cult! I talked to Quil, he was worried like I am about you! Just tell me what's going on Jacob! You told me you would explain" I started building up my defenses.

He suddenly flared up, releasing me and turning away. His breath was hard and deep, his eyes were closed tightly.

"Bella, I can't tell you, but you already know! Y know everything! I just got to try to make a way for you to _remember._" He gritted between his teethe. He turned back around taking a few steps away from me.

"Remember _what _Jacob, this is crazy." I hissed folding my arms and turning away from him.

"Bella, just think of the first time I met you, remember that day, the stories I told you? God, I'm not supposed to be even telling you _this_ much. I have to go soon, Sam's waiting for me. I'm going to be going away for awhile Bella." He sighed and his head hung low.

"Jacob, don't go back!" My voice broke, hurt welling up in my chest and throat. I turned back and reached out for him. I was shocked at my own reaction as I embraced him.

He shuddered but didn't resist me, he embraced me back, kissing my forehead. "I don't want to but, I have to. It's not safe for you to be around me yet."

"What do you mean, _safe_? You're here right now, I feel safe! I hate them Jacob! I hate them for what they are doing to you! This isn't you!" I brushed my hands along his face, my eyes were tearing up, my breathing unsteady. He looked at me with hard eyes.

"Don't hate them Bella." He looked down.

I jumped out of his arms and glared at him. "_I do_ Jacob! They're taking away my best friend. I don't even know who this person is!" Angry tears were running down my face, I was almost yelling at him.

"No you don't Bella! So you should go now, or I will." He said coldly.

"I'm not leaving." I whispered, taking a step closer to him. I couldn't believe this was happening again.

"Then I will." He turned away from me and started walking away.

"You promised Jacob! You promised!" I screamed.

He froze and turned around. Emotion lacking in his face "I know."

I slumped down onto a piece of driftwood, my breathing erratic, my sobbing uncontrollable but I managed to let out a whisper. "I need _you_ Jacob_,_ I can change Jacob, I'll try. I_ want_ you!"

"Bella, stop! I'm no good for you now and you'll realize this once you remember!"

He started running towards the forest.

I got up to follow him after him, "Stop Jacob! Just stop!" I was crying through my words

"Bella, don't follow me!" He was running faster, so I quickened my pace, he was so fast. It almost reminded me of…I didn't want to think his name.


	3. Laurent

I was in the woods now feeling like there was some sort of hope to catching up with him. Jacob was nowhere in sight. I noticed shards of fabric in the bushes and in tree branches. I kept going, why would he have ran into the woods?

I stopped running but now was curious about the pieces of clothing that was spread out following some sort of trail through the woods. I picked up a piece, and it was warm and it looked like part of Jacob's shirt. I stopped, stood completely still. Jacob was hurt. I stood silently and gasped. A bear! What if something attacked Jacob while he was running? I kept on track following the pieces of his clothes until they were becoming scarce. I was positive this was his clothing. I couldn't stop. Jacob was in trouble and I had to help him!

It was growing cold and I was running on an incline, up into the wooded hills. The shards of his clothing had disappeared but I wasn't giving up! I couldn't stop searching for him! My voice was hoarse from screaming his name over and over.

I was about to descend the other direction. I knew it was getting late but I wasn't going to stop looking.

I came across a clearing and was resting for a second until I heard something about thirty feet into the woods. I started walking closer, I couldn't see as clearly since it was getting darker. "Ja-" Was the only thing that came out of my mouth until I was flung against a skimpy young tree. The tree snapped in half, I slumped to my knees and head first I hit the frozen ground.

I couldn't move my body, I was frozen stiff by what I saw in front of me. A huge black wolf was ripping apart someone in front of me! It took me just a moment to realize who it was. It was no _man _but a vampire, Laurent. The fighting drifted away from my eye sight but I still heard shouting and growling from deep in the forest.

My eyes started to drift shut before I heard his voice, '_Bella, don't give up!_' Why? I asked in my head, his face was etched in my mind now, Edward.

How could I think of _him_ at a time like this? As I was drifting into unconsciousness...I was welcoming it because soon enough the wolf and the vampire would come back for me, and then I would be done. Dead and gone. Was Jacob dead too? Would I meet him in Heaven? Would I be going to Heaven? Is there a Heaven? I only thought of the place I was maybe heading to for just a moment because what I really wanted were the people I was leaving behind. Edward, Alice, Charlie, Renee, Jacob...My family. Only two of these beings were my actual family but I loved them all the same, each one of them had a part in making me who I was now. I had too many unanswered questions to let go of and the pain left from hitting the tree was too much for me to bear anymore. I was surrounded in darkness and cold. This was it, I'm not able to hold on any longer...That was when I slipped into unconsciousness.

I was disappointed when my final dream on earth was just a replay of one I already had of Jacob and Edward. In the woods, where I was at, the one where Jacob was protecting me from Edward…What a disappointment! The dream replayed a few times and that is when It hit me. I was remembering the story Jacob told me on the beach, of the Quilleautes and the Cullens, wolves and the cold ones…The wolf that was tearing apart that vampire in front of my eyes, was that Jacob? Was he coming after me next? Would he be the one that would take me away from this earth? Surely not, Jacob may have said that I was not good for him but Jacob wouldn't kill me. He wouldn't hurt me even if he was a wolf.


	4. Try

"How long has it been?" I heard a deep booming voice call.

" Two hours. I think she's coming around. It's looking good." Another deep voice replied.

I opened my eyes and let out a massive sigh.

"Isabella?" The deep voice asked and suddenly a huge silhouette of a man came into view. It was the same one responsible for finding me in the woods...the first time. Sam Uley.

I started to whimper as I was searching frantically around. I was bundled up under many covers and I didn't recognize the place I was in.

"Bella, it's alright. Do you remember me? I'm Sam Uley. We have met before, under sort of the same circumstances. I know you don't know your surroundings but it's going to be alright, you are at my girlfriend Emily's house, I..."

"Jacob's hurt Sam!" I grabbed his arm with as much energy I could conjure up and my eyes grew wide with fright. "I was in the woods and and I think the bear attacked him! I saw shreds of his clothing! I can show you! I can take you to the place right now! The...The wolf went off with someone I know! Jacob's out there too! You have to find him before it's too late!" I cried out to Sam. I went to raise myself up but failed miserably. I was much too dizzy and my neck still ached from the hit. I groaned in pain and fell back down sighing, closing my eyes.

"Bella!" A familiar voice cried out in agony. Sam's face was shaken and he backed away from me a little. "No, he's here. Jacob is here." Sam murmured and looked down.

"Where? How bad is it? Is he going to be okay?!" My eyes flashed open with another burst of energy. I was talking too quick to think. I needed to know how bad it was, if he was going to survive.

Footsteps grew closer to me as I heard heavy breathing and sobbing. Jacob then came into view.

"You're the one thinking I'm dead?! The one that's in trouble? After what I have done to you! How I left you there, unprotected! You could be dead right now because of how I treated you! That bloodsucker could have killed you if Sam was just a second too late!" I had never seen Jacob cry but now his face was crumpled into his hands crying. I was speechless, Jacob wasn't hurt at all, he was fine, more than fine he looked like had bulked up in the hours I had been away from him.

"You were so close to death." Jacob whispered through his tears. I could tell it was even hard for him to look me in the eyes, Jacob turned and walked away.

"You're okay, you're not hurt!" I was too relieved to count into consideration what he was saying. A slight smile crossed my face and I situated myself so I could see the room better even though every ounce of me hurt doing so.

The room was empty now, Jacob sat in a wooden chair just a few feet from me. It hurt to move but not enough for me to stay away from comforting _my_ Jacob. I got out of the layers of blanket and stood up. I looked down, not recognizing the clothing I was wearing. I walked over to Jacob, his head was in his hands sobbing.

"Why are you crying?" I frowned as I put my hand on his back. His head raised and he wiped his hands off on his pants. He remained sitting as he pulled me close to him. His head buried into my stomach and his hands wrapped around my torso. I laid my hands on his head and rubbed his shoulders and through his long locks of hair.

"It's alright Jacob. You're not dead, that's what matters right now. It was me I thought something had happened to you." My voice was a slight whisper.

He pulled away from me but just to look into my eyes. My heart was breaking to see him like this. His eyes were red and glistening with tears, his face was tortured, I didn't know why he was such a mess. I didn't know what to do exactly, other than to comfort him. I sat down on his lap and wound my arms around his neck. All the while I was touching Jacob, my dream I had while I was in deep sleep came back to me. Jacob _was_ the wolf...What I was doing wasn't appropriate behavior for best friends, it definitely resembled more than that. But I didn't care, like I told him earlier, I would _try_. "Don't do this to yourself, Jake. We're both okay." I inclined my face to his and laid my forehead against his and sighed. He took his arms and lifted them to rub my back and through my hair. We stayed like that for a moment. His breathing started to heavy, and the movements of his hands were traveling farther around my body, he pulled me closer to him even though we were already much, much too close to each other.

His eyes were closed and his mouth opened and I could feel his hot breath was almost a pant against my neck.

I _would try_, I promised him earlier, even though he was bad at keeping his promises I knew I was going to keep mine at that very moment. Of course, I didn't feel as strongly as he did for me, he knew I was broken and I knew he didn't care. His nose trailed up the corner of my jaw and I could hear him gulp down and his breath quickened as I could feel the warmth travel from my jaw up to the corner of my mouth. I felt like I was melting into him.

My heart beat was erratic as was his, I situated my eyes on his and he was starring back into mine. I closed mine and moved my face ever so slightly, his lips followed me and abruptly stopped when they met mine, they were barely touching at this moment just the bottom of his full lip brushing against my lower lip.

"Jacob..." I whispered against his lips. He took that as a welcoming. He sighed and put his hands around my torso and pulled me closer to him, his lips enveloped mine and he held nothing back. I _let_ him. The feeling of his lips on mine was such a drastic contrast to the only _other_ ones I have ever had on mine. His hands were everywhere and all I could do was sit there and take what I was getting from him. I allowed everything he was doing to me, his tongue traced my bottom lip and entered my mouth, I can't lie it turned me on, I was new at this sort of thing with him. I found myself enjoying it and participating in with his actions. I sighed against his lips and he slightly pulled and chuckled and said my name and was back on my lips, his hands in my hair. I leaned away for a moment as I remembered again what I had dreamed in the woods. What he wanted me to _remember_. He looked frantic as I pulled away "What, what is it?" it seemed like he snapped back into reality for a second, maybe it was the look on my face.

"Jacob, I know! I remember the story! I know what you are now!" I put the back of my hand on his face and traced his swollen lips. He looked away for a second as he caught his breath.

He looked back at me with intense eyes. "And you're still here." His eyes were sad but a slight smile broke across his face.

"Yes, here I am. I know you won't hurt me Jacob. What you are now will never drive me away from you." He took my hand and kissed it, his eyes not leaving mine. I smiled slightly back at him. He quickly tightened his grip around me and picked me up. Taking me by surprise, he stood up and I swung my legs around his body. "What, what are you doing?" I looked down to see how far off the ground I was.

"I'm taking you with me." He chuckled triumphantly and crushed his lips to mine. He kicked the door open with his feet and led me outside, it was dark and cold, I had no recollection of what time it was.


	5. Ride

He opened up my passenger door to my truck and placed me inside and kissed me again before shutting it. He skipped to the driver's side and jumped in and his lips quickly meeting mine again.

I tried to catch my breath when he wasn't kissing me. I straightened myself up and pushed him off of me. I was re-thinking the decision I had made of saying I would _try_. I was an emotional wreck, I didn't know if I could go all in like he was. I wasn't expecting this reaction from him.

"You don't know how often I have dreamed about making out with you in this beast!" He laughed and was on me again, ignoring my feeble attempt of stopping him.

I pushed him again. "Are you just wanting to fulfill one of your fantasies?!" I asked critically.

He paused and studied my face, he could tell I was getting upset, "Well, no, Bella I'm just so happy and relieved right now! You're alive and you're not running away from me scared to death! Can we go someplace where we can really talk? I just want to be alone with you for a while." He situated himself and sighed like reality hit him once again, "I can handle this."

He started up my truck and backed out of the unfamiliar house's driveway.

He held my hand while he drove, "I honestly thought I was going to lose you once you found out...that's part of the reason why I left you at the beach. I didn't want to, it was hard, and I am sorry for it. Seeing your reaction in my mind now makes it almost unbearable. I'm a piece of shit excuse for a werewolf, Bells." He sighed and glanced at my face.

"What was the other reason why you left me?" I whispered, staring at his face.

He winced when I said the words "_left me_". It showed he really did mean what he said.

"If I get to angry or emotional or basically lose control of myself, I'll change." He grimaced.

"Change...into a wolf? Like what I witnessed tonight? Was that you who fought Laurent? Did he survive? I know you said you didn't get hurt but you don't know how strong vampires are Jacob!"

"Bella, we're stronger!" He laughed grimly, "and that was Sam who killed Laurent, he's dead Bella, Sam took care of it…If he was a second late though…" He trailed off in a whisper shaking his head.

"Laurent's dead? Sam actually killed him? Is he hurt? I'd feel terrible if he were hurt Jake, all because of me." I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Sam's not hurt at all Bella, it was easy killing this Laurent guy. That's our sole purpose Bells, to kill those bloodsuckers." Jacob wrapped his arm around me as I sat silently with tears running down my face.


	6. The Invite

Time went by, we were sitting in the truck outside of La Push; hearing about Jacob's transformation and duties as a werewolf were making my head spin with confusion. During our talk I found out that Victoria was back and Jacob thought Laurent and her were together. I told him what had happened last spring and how I knew both of the vampires. I thought Jacob was going to phase right there in the driver's seat when I told him how I actually received my broken leg last year. After I told him everything I knew about the nomad vampires I changed the subject for lighter discussion. I knew he was feeling overwhelmed as was I.

"We probably should head towards Forks before Charlie sends out a search party for me." I looked out the window at the night sky's full moon. "So I guess you don't need a full moon, to turn into a werewolf, do you?" I turned to face Jacob.

He chuckled "No, I guess that's just Hollywood's version of us, and Billy took care of Charlie, Bells. He told him that you and I were going to help clean the house, but you do look exhausted."

"Yeah, I guess I had a traumatic Sunday afternoon." I didn't have a radio anymore to check the time, the wires strung out of the cab reminded me of the day I tore it out, I wrapped my arm around my stomach protecting me from the revival of any pain. "Are you alright?" he put his arm around me staring intently at me.

"Jake, I know I said I would try earlier today, and I mean it I swear I do, but you must know how broken I am." I said sniffling looking up into his eyes. He nodded and sighed. "Bella, I know how you hurt if anything reminds you of_ them_, I can see it now as you wrap your arms around yourself, I'm not blind."

"You know me too well Jake…You know earlier you said about not being good for me, well that's how I honestly feel about myself to you. I feel like I'm cheating you out of a real relationship if you are with me. It's not fair to you, and I just want you to know that I don't feel like I'm worthy of you." I sighed looking down at my hands, it was so easy to tell Jacob how I felt.

"I love you the way you are and I accept your frailties! I accept it all and it doesn't change how I feel about you at all…or ever!" He said this confidently and sincere. I looked up at him and he stared back at me endearingly.

How could I not try...the roles were reversed for this first time tonight.

I breathed in heavy, my hands reached for his face; I pulled myself up to his and kissed him earnestly. I took him by surprise. He froze for a second then returned mine. He pulled me onto his lap and snuggled his head into my neck. "I don't want to leave you tonight, not now, not ever! I don't want this night to end!" He breathed against my neck.

"You need sleep Jacob." After hearing about his shifts with the pack, them taking turns looking for Victoria, chasing her, of course he should be exhausted. I didn't want to keep him from sleep.

"I'm on look out tonight Bells...Well, at least look out will mean I will be protecting your house since you are the bait. It sucks that you are but that means I get to be close to you."

"Protect me from my room." I stated without thinking. It took me a moment to realize what I had just said, and it took him one too.

His eyes got excited as he thought about it. "Hmm, let me see if that's ok with Sam." He said with way to much enthusiasm in his tone, before I could respond he was out of the truck.

I sat there wishing I could take back the words I just spoke; it wasn't a good idea...was it?

He was back a few moments later....with his shirt in his hand.

"Jacob it's freezing put your shirt on!" As I studied his body.

"I don't get cold ever Bells, My blood runs too hot now...Sam didn't approve at first but then he agreed…I begged, and well showed him what happened tonight." He smiled widely and tapped his head.

"Did you stand on your hind legs?" I chuckled, he was asking for that one.

He didn't appreciate the joke one bit. He sat there for a moment then started the car. "Let's go home", he looked over at me and smiled wide. "Charlie isn't going to allow you in at 11:30." I said matter of factly.

"I know, he won't know I'm there, I'll use the window....err I'll just be quite and go through the front door after he goes to bed." He knew what the window meant for me, who it reminded me of.

We arrived to my house, the porch light was on but Charlie didn't wait up for me. "Okay I'll go in and check it out, then I'll signal for you." I whispered getting out of the truck.

"Wait we have to shut our doors at the same time so he thinks I'm alone!" I whispered as he got out. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "1, 2, 3 now!" I whispered and we did an alright job getting the doors closed.

I proceeded to the door but he followed me to it. "What are you doing, he might see you!" I scowled.

"No he's dead asleep just go in." He wouldn't leave my side.

I rolled my eyes, unlocked the door, pushed it open and flung my arm out to let him proceed. He smiled and was gone in a second. I went in slowly, locking the door and turning off the lights as I headed up to my room. I heard Charlie snoring outside his door and let out a sigh of relief. I entered my room and found a smug Jacob Black lying vertically on my bed, without a shirt.

I couldn't keep from blushing even though I was getting furious by his testosterone/hormonal levels. "What are you doing, put your shirt back on!" I walked in and shut my door quietly.

"I get too hot when I sleep." He whined.

"Stop trying to seduce me by your newly found body." I pulled off my jacket and laid it on my computer chair. He reached for my hand as I was laying my coat down and pulled me onto the bed. I had to admit, I kind of enjoyed this over-confident boy's behavior a little.

"Is it working?" He asked quietly as he put his hands around me pulling me close.  
I was blushing now, my face gave away the truth, and I'm sure he could tell. "No." I said curtly and turned away from him. He chuckled as he pulled me down to the bed with him.

"Bella, you're a shitty liar." He smiled and studied my face and also happened to look down to study the rest of my body.

I grumbled and turned over and smiled slightly but he couldn't tell.

"Come here" He pulled me close to his warm body and snuggled his head into the back of my neck, taking in my smell, then sighed, "love you so much." He mumbled into my hair.

"Jacob, don't say things like that." I said grimly.

"Shh, I don't care what you think, it's the truth." He playfully tried covering my mouth with his hand, I shook it off and he chuckled.

His actions become affectionate as he ran his fingers through my hair and wrapped his arms around my torso once again, "It's true." He whispered into my ear. I didn't respond, I just tried to drift off to sleep in his warm arms, my thoughts consumed me though. But all my thoughts could be summed up into one simple question. Was this _right_?


	7. Results

I woke up stretching in my bed. I was recollecting what had happened last night and reviewing my commonly themed nightmares that I had. But I realized that my bed was empty, without the boy occupying it from the night before. I shot out of bed and looked around my room, my eyes couldn't help but fall on my rocking chair, memories flooded my mind with _him_ and I had to grasp myself to keep from losing it. I noticed the time and decided it was time to get ready for school if I wanted to make it first period on time. I ran downstairs, Charlie was gone already, I pulled out a box of cereal and some milk and gulped down breakfast before heading back upstairs to put on my day's clothes.

When I arrived at school there were neon colored papers hanging up on every wall and door in and outside the school, reminding the student body to nominate their fellow peers for prom court today. I rolled my eyes and made my way through the crowd of people to first period.

I couldn't pay attention in any of my classes. I was too busy thinking about Jacob, and where he disappeared to today, maybe they caught Victoria's scent again, I shuddered and tried to stop thinking about it then.

I didn't have an appetite for lunch so I grabbed an apple and a milk and took my seat next to Angela, Ben and Mike.

"Bella, who are you nominating for Prom court?" Angela pulled out her ballot excitedly to show me. "Umm...I don't know how that exactly works, but if I could vote for anyone I would vote for you Angela." I tried to stay with much enthusiasm

"Really? Thanks Bella! The forms are up at the table if you would like to cast your vote!" She smiled widely.

"Sure, I'll grab one before I leave." I took a bite out of my apple. I couldn't help watch Mike glancing over at me while writing animatedly on his paper and whispering to the rest of the group at the table, and I couldn't help notice Jessica and Lauren glaring at me too. I had too much on my mind to really care about what I had not done this time to make them mad at me.

The bell rang and I threw my leftovers away and headed for the door. Angela caught up to me, "Don't forget the form!" She stretched her arm out in front of me giddy as all get out to make sure I wouldn't miss the table. I stopped and took the paper from the table. I quickly wrote Angela and her boyfriend's name in the two blanks, I didn't even care about this but Angela has been good to me through everything so I could at least do this for her.

I was walking into Bio II when Mike caught up with me "Well hey there _Prom Queen_" He snickered. "What...did you just say?" My face wrinkled up in disgust by the words he spoke. "Nothing, Bella, so who did you vote for?" He winked at me and I looked at him with the strangest expression.

"Uhh, none of your business actually, my high school political views are private you know."

"Ha, your funny you know that?" Mike laughed awkwardly and then blocked my way into the classroom. "I gotta get to class Mike." I hope his crush on me wasn't resurrecting today. "Yeah...sure...class...Well, I'll see you in Spanish last hour ok, I heard it's going to be fun today!" He smiled and then started walking away. I turned around to watch him walk away and his actions definitely confirmed my suspicions that the crush was resurrected, but he was much more blatant about it before.

Last hour did come around and Mike met me in hall. "So...are you nervous about the results?" He was still being weird.

"The results of what?" I was getting annoyed by his change in behavior. He stopped and gaped at me, "Uh, Prom court, Earth to Arizona, seriously where have you been in the past 24 hours, everyone is talking about it!" He was over emphasizing even with his hands and arms.

I had to think, what had I been doing in the past 24 hours. Oh yeah, getting knocked out in the woods, almost getting killed by a sadistic vampire, found out my best friend is a werewolf who's sole purpose for being one is to kill vampires including my past family…and oh yeah I had a werewolf sleepover last night…I think, breaking the whole "just friends" part with my Jacob wolf and I's platonic relationship.

I paused and thought about all this information, sighed, and shook my head and kept walking. Mike caught up with me as we made our way into class. "Arizona, Arizona, what are we going to do with you?" He sighed and took his seat. I looked back at him like he was crazy and he just winked at me again.

Nothing fun happened in Spanish like he said it would and it was only 5 minutes till the bell rang. Then the loud speaker clicked on and our student body president came over with an announcement.

"We have tallied up the Prom Court nominations and this spring's Prom Court. King nominations and court is Nathaniel Davis, Dan Cox, Michael Newton and Chris Stephens. Queen nominations and court are: Lauren Mallory, Kate Schell, Isabella Swan and Angela Weber. We have also voted on the prom theme, this year it will be Hollywood. Congratulations and tickets go on sale next Monday during lunch."

It all made sense now, my mouth was hanging open along with every person in the class room, their faces turned to stare at me. I slowly turned around in my desk to give Mike Newton my death glare. As I did, the widest grin spread a crossed his face "Well congratulations Arizona!" I gathered my books and walked out of the room, 2 seconds before bell rang. My face was mortified with red, I half ran to my locker to put my stuff in and to get my keys and leave. The hallway was about to be flooded with people. I shoved my books in my locker, grabbed my coat, English book, my backpack and headed for the exit. I didn't look at anyone as I was racing out of the school but I could feel their eyes on me.

I made my way outside but Angela caught me by the arm as I exited. "Bella, we made it! I voted for you, you know!" She hugged me and squealed "What…You did? Why?" I asked frantically as I tried to keep walking. "Bella because your one of my best friends, you totally deserve it this year! I gotta go tell Ben!" She waved as I kept walking…_Deserved it_, I don't deserve anything High School has to offer, I don't participate in anything and hardly associate with anyone.

I shook my head and headed for the parking lot but stopped when I noticed a 6'2 tall russet colored skinned bulky man standing next to my truck.

Jacob was standing there with a wide grin on his face. I walked over to him remembering last night's details and blushed even more if I could.

"What are you doing here…?" He met me half way, hesitated then took my hand and escorted me to my truck. I had never held his hand in public, I thought about everyone's reactions around me. "I wanted to pick you up from school so we could ride down to La Push together."

He looked passed me for a moment then wrapped his arms around me and tilted his head down to meet mine and wrapped his lips around mine, "missed you today" he added when he pulled back.

"Jake I don't feel comfortable with PDA, High School is dangerous the way it is now…I need to tell you about my horrible day!" He seemed to not notice me but kept looking past me. I turned and looked in the direction he was staring and saw Mike Newton standing there looking mortified like I was just a few minutes ago. He obviously had saw the embrace and kiss and now I knew why Jacob had embraced me so fast.

"Aww shit, come on Jake lets go!" I shrieked as I got in the truck but he followed me into the driver's side and insisted to drive.


	8. Validity

"So who is going to be your date to this prom thing?" Jacob asked wearily, looking down ash he shoved his hands in his pockets kicking rocks with his feet as we made our way to his door.

"Jake you don't expect that I am actually going? Cause I'm not I had to do it last year...you know that...I don't want to go through it again this year." I tried not to think of last prom, how I did actually enjoy myself, but only because I was with _him_.

"Bella you have to go your on court! What if you do end up being queen no one is going to be there to accept your crown!"

I glared back at him "I'm not going to be _Queen_ Jacob this is just a joke someone played on me! No one wants me on court!"

"Are you kidding me Bella! You think this is a joke? Hell no, you said Angela voted for you and that idiotic Mike Newton too, just think about how every other guy thinks of you besides Mike in the school, you probably have every guys vote there!" He shook his head; I could tell I made him a little upset about the part of my story that included Mike Newton.

"I'm not going." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Yes you are." He put his arm around me and chuckled to himself.

A sly smile crossed my face; I knew how to get him to shut up about it. "Well I better call Mike up and tell him what my dress is like so he can pick out my flowers and his tie."

He dropped his arm immediately from me and stood with his eyes closed tight, slightly shaking. Yep, I hit a nerve.

"Are you serious Bella! That joker!" he hissed.

"Jacob I'm kidding, I'm not going to go anywhere with Mike Newton." I kept walking passed him. I heard him sigh as he caught up with me; we made our way up to his wooden crackly porch stairs.

He grabbed my hand lightly and stopped. I turned to look at him, his eyes were sad and the corners of mouth turned down. We looked at each other for a second, "Don't worry Jake, I'm not going to go with anyone to my prom, if they force me to go I'll show up for the crowning of the whatever and leave, don't act like this."

"No Bella." He shook his head sighing.

"I'm sorry then I don't understand why you are upset right now, what's wrong?" I was getting frustrated by his ever changing moods.

He shook his head again, "You're so blind! Bella, I want to be the one to take you to prom! Let me be your date!"

I blinked, "Why do you want to go to Forks Prom?" I asked disgusted.

"I don't have like some secret wish to always want to go to Forks prom, even though I did go for a brief moment last year, but it was on an order. Bella I just want to go with you!"

I stood there for a second waiting for the right thing to say but got nothing. "C'mon" I said and walked inside he groaned and followed me.

"Well congratulations Bella, Charlie called and told me the good news, prom court is quite an honor!" Billy rolled into view while saying so.

I huffed, "Word travels fast around here doesn't it. Well thanks Billy." Jacob walked in front of me to the fridge and grabbed a soda. "Bella doesn't like it dad, she doesn't even want to go to prom."

"Well Bella, I know Charlie would be very excited and proud if you went along with it." Billy said fathertively.

"I guess you're right Billy." I smiled slightly and followed Jacob into his room.

He shut the door behind him. "Um, should we leave it open, Billy might get suspicious." I hesitated at the door.

"Oh I already told him." He said nonschelontly.

I gasped my eyes wide "You told him....about us...about last night!"

"Well, yeah I didn't say I spent the night of course. But you know we don't have secrets around here it's too hard, might as well get it out anyway." He slumped down onto the end of his bed.

"And..." I continued.

"My dad is happy for me Bella." He was getting irritated.

"Yeah but you know him and Charlie gossip like old women!"

"So" Was all Jacob said.

"So! So I'm not only going to have to talk about my impending demise at prom tonight to Charlie but I'm going to have to talk about relationships and you and those two words together..." I ran my hand through my hair and was getting more agitated by the minute of all this new information.

"My dad is happy for me...and Charlie would be too, if my dad tells him, I don't know if he will though. I don't want to go out there and explain to him not to because well I don't even know why it's such an awful thing to tell your dad about prom, us and relationships. That's pretty much the most normal activity that has come out of you and me in a long time! Why not enjoy the mythical-creature-nightmare-free-drama, and worry about normal things for once, be happy about it!"

I stood there not able to reply because his argument was completely sound. He just put me into perspective. "Hmph" was all I said as I slumped down next to him. He was silent. "You're completely right." I mumbled as I stared down at the floor.

It took him a second but he turned to me and put his arm around me. "I slept so good last night." He whispered in my ear.

"Did you really spend the night?" I whispered.

He sat is drink down and turned to look at me, "Yeah, it wasn't a dream you know."

"You weren't there when I woke up though." I stated, he could tell it made me sad.

"Oh, well I had a shift at the Res...Huh...I guess I should have told you." He was kind of surprised at my reaction.

"I was afraid something happened." I kept my eyes down.

He reached out and took my face in his hands, "No...We didn't pick up on anything." His expression was strange, it felt like he was studying every movement I was making. He leaned down more and wrapped his lips around mine. It was easier today, being with him, I participated in the movements more and was more welcoming with my actions. I didn't hold back like I did last night.

I took my arms and wrapped them around his neck and leaned my head back a little. "I'm sorry honey; I should have stayed or told you I was leaving." He whispered in my ear as he kissed my jaw and made his way to the nape of my neck. This drove me crazy. I let out a slight moan on accident, this persuaded him to do more of the same. He was slowly falling back onto the bed with me in his arms and I let him take me with him. My heart beat accelerated, my breathing was rapid and my hands were moving all along his back and through his hair as I pulled him close to me. His mouth was back at mine, he parted his lips…He knew all was forgiven by my actions. I could hear his pulse race; his breath was short and hot against my skin. He pulled away, his eyes intense but soft at the same time on mine. He kept his arms intertwined around me holding me against his body. He kissed the top of my head slowly and kept his lips there. I snuggled into his neck and let out a breath. We lye very still for a while, I let my eyelids shut, and I could hear him softy start to snore.


	9. Proud

"Jacob, Bella…I just got off the phone with Charlie, he's expecting you home soon Bella." Billy called from outside Jacob's room. Both of us sprang up at the same time knocking our heads together.

"Ugh, what, oh okay I'm leaving now." I stood up to fast and caught myself on the dresser; I hurriedly grabbed my backpack and looked around the room for my jacket. Jacob was on his feet watching me. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. "Oh God I look..." Jacob's reflection was also in the mirror "Like you just got done from a ravishingly pleasing evening with your boyfriend."

Jacob bit his bottom lip and took a few steps to wrap his arms around me. "I'll drive you home. Can't stay over tonight, well I'm not inviting myself in but just to let you know I'm running north of town tonight for a while." He said as his chin was resting on my shoulder. I was clearly blushing by his earlier statement, yes I looked like I just got caught making out in the backseat of a car or something. "What time is it?"

"9:30" Jacob replied after his lips made a trail back and forth across my neck.

"Oh shit I need to go! I can't believe we fell asleep for that long. I hope Charlie's not mad." I got into my jacket, threw my backpack over my shoulder and tried to straighten my hair out before opening the door. Jacob lightly placed his hands on the small of my back, as he followed me out of his room.

Billy was eyeing us as we walked through the living room. I didn't know what to say, I looked like I just caught stealing something, my cheeks blushed scarlet.

"Hey dad, I'm driving Bella home then I'm going to meet up with Sam." Jacob still had his hand on me. This had to look strange to Billy, it was awkward for me.

"Alright son, see you soon, Bella." He smiled.

"Good night Billy" I said weakly and made my way outside.

I walked fast to the truck and got in.

"Why are you running north of town?" I asked while we were making our way to Forks.

"We all have certain sections to cover so the leech doesn't get passed us. Tonight's my night to run north."

"Oh" Was all I could say, I hated the rush of anxiety I got when he mentioned Victoria, I almost hated myself for all of the trouble I put upon the pack.

Jacob drove slowly obviously to spend more time with me before he had to leave, I was impatient though, and Charlie must be really worried. We made it to the driveway and he hesitated there.

"Hmm" I looked at him with squinty eyes.

"What?" He had a hearty laugh.

"I don't know what to say now. Good luck, hope you catch her..." I shrugged.

"Oh Bella" He said as he reached over to embrace me. "Thanks, me too, for your sake you know. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll miss you."

He didn't let go.

"K, Charlie's going to get mad, I need to go inside." I squirmed out of his embrace. But my efforts didn't work he put his hands on the sides of my face and lingered his lips on mine.

"Ok, goodnight" He whispered against my lips as he let go of me.

"Goodnight" I smiled briefly and got out of the truck. I turned around to wave good bye but he was already gone.

I sighed as I entered the house. "Bella!" Charlie's tone caught me off guard, I was expecting an angrier tone, but what it sound like was delight. "Oh dad, I'm sorry I'm so late I fell asleep over at Jake's and..." Charlie interrupted me.

"It's alright Bella; Billy called and told me you guys were over there tonight. I ran into Mrs. Weber today and told me the news, congratulations honey." He was grinning ear to ear, Billy was right he was proud of me.

Charlie hugged me tightly, then let go. "Are you hungry? I ordered a pizza; there is some in the fridge. I think I'm going to go to bed soon, I'm beat."

"Thanks, it was a surprise. Sorry I wasn't home to fix dinner, I just lost track of time." He put his hands out to make me stop talking. "Now Bella it's quite alright, I don't mind at all, I can take care of myself once in a while you know."

"Yeah, I guess so as long as you can remember DiMaggio's Pizza's phone number." I joked. Charlie laughed with me then started up the stairs. "Bella, I'm really happy for you, just so you know." He smiled before he made his way up.


	10. Floorboard

The next morning at breakfast, Charlie started in with the twenty questions I knew were coming about prom.

"Well you're going to need some money to get a dress...how much are dresses these days anyway? Port Angeles has a decent dress shop don't they? I remember you went with Jessica one time to it."

My face dropped instantaneously as he mentioned the incident at Port Angeles, Charlie didn't know about what really happened that night, he just knew that I helped Jessica and Angela pick out there prom dresses last year. I could feel the color drain from my face. Port Angeles, the night Edward saved me for the second time, the night he told me about who he was, the night he told he told me he felt protective over me and...

…"Bella, Bella, what's wrong?" Charlie grabbed my shoulders and lightly shook me. My eyes snapped open and I looked at him. "Honey, you don't look like you feel good, are you sick?" Charlie's face was concerned, and frantic. He knew this face, he knew something was mentioned in our conversation to make me turn into my zombie state that he had gotten used to through out this school year.

"Yeah, dad I just don't feel well." I realized I was still holding my spoon with cereal in it, suddenly I lost my appetite. I dropped the spoon in the bowl. "If you don't feel well I'll call the school, you can stay home today." He hurried and cleared his bowl from the table.

I took a second to actually consider this offer. I didn't have any quizzes or tests today, it was pouring outside, the worst this week and maybe if I wasn't present today by tomorrow the whole school might forget about this prom court deal, humans get sidetracked easily, I was told.

"Yes, can you call the school, I don't feel right...good, dad." I looked up at him with pitiful eyes. That was the best idea Charlie has ever offered to me.

"Alright, I'll call when I get to the station. I'll be a little late tonight, still investigating those hikers' disappearances. I'll call around noon to see how you are feeling. You should go back to bed Bella, get rested up." Charlie put his belt on and headed for the door.

"Sounds good dad, thanks for calling." Thanks for getting me away from Mike Newton and the entire student body.

I headed up the stairs as Charlie headed out the door. I lay down on my bed staring at the ceiling. I was forcing myself to think about all the recent events that had lead up to this. I couldn't help but compare and contrast this time last year with right now. I wouldn't let my mind wonder though to distinct memories of _him._

What was I doing with Jacob? Was this really right being with him? At first I felt as if I was leading him on, but it had gone way beyond that point. But I don't feel guilty now being with him in a physical more emotional relationship. When he holds me I feel safe, when he kisses me I feel loved, when I'm with him...I feel whole. _Then why not?_ _He's_ not coming back; _he...doesn't...want...me._ I'll never feel again the way I felt with _him_, I don't now with Jacob, and if I don't now, I doubt I ever will. Jacob is the best that I have these days, I'm not settling for less, even though it seems like I am, I'm just settling down, letting go...but I'll never _forget_. I'll never stop forgetting the most wonderful few months of my life, even though it hurts me to the core to think of them now. Maybe someday I will be able to look back and just be thankful and content for what I was given. Not now, but someday, maybe when I'm forty (I cringed at the idea of the number) or maybe at my deathbed when I'm old as time. I need to face it, the best days of my life have passed and I will never get them back. _Be happy_.

I didn't notice the tears streaming down my face until now. I sat up from my bed and wiped my eyes. The rain was pounding against my window. I stood up and walked over to glance out. I could hardly see five feet from the window; the ground was flooded, what a depressing day, what a great day to stay home from school. I decided I should check my email, I was sure un-read messages were starting to pile up from Renee in my inbox. I turned and stepped over to the computer, but I tripped over something and grasped myself on the back of my computer chair. I looked down and saw my floor board was coming loose in a spot. I kneeled down to check the damage when I noticed it was completely unattached from the rest of the floor.


	11. Contents

I dug my fingernails into the floorboard and with a couple of tries picked up the loose board, but what I recovered underneath the floor made me drop the piece of wood I was holding. My hands were trembling as I reached for the contents I had just discovered. The pictures and a blank labeled CD were laying there. I grabbed the pictures out and turned then over in my hands, they were the ones from the camera I received for my birthday, the pictures from the last days with Edward. I picked up the CD next and stared at the back of it letting my room's light glare off of it to make sure it wasn't a blank, there was writing on it. Uncontrollable sobs ran down my eyes, I couldn't catch my breath I sat there on my knees rocking back and forth pressing the contents of the floor against my chest so hard. I stayed like that for minutes, every few seconds glancing down at the pictures and pressing them against my chest over and over.

Eventually I worked up enough strength to make my way over to the bed, both hands still holding the pictures and CD. I opened my CD player and with shaking hands put the disc inside. I hesitated though before I pushed play, what would the consequences be when I did push play, would all of this throw me back into my state of being before Jacob? It only took me a second to decide that I didn't care. I pushed play and my lullaby started.

I screamed, not in agony but in sadness, I was crying loudly almost drowning out my lullaby I placed the pictures of Edward on my bed and kept my eyes on them and at least one finger on them in case they decided to mysteriously float away. The CD player was on repeat as I listened through the entire CD again and again, and each time it restarted, my crying grew quieter.

Why did he leave these here, why in the floorboards? Was I supposed to find them? Was he too lazy to really do away with them? Did they hold some other sort of meaning? Why?

The same questions ran through my head, all without answers. I lost count of how many times the CD repeated, but eventually my eyes fluttered closed and my crying was just a sniffle, I exhausted myself from crying so much, I drifted to sleep.

I woke up when I heard the phone ring. I glanced at the clock, 1:00 o'clock, it must be Charlie. I gasped remembering the pictures as my lullaby still played. I paused the stereo and picked up the pictures that were next to me. I jumped out of bed, pictures in hand and turned around and glanced at my CD player, I thought for a second to take the CD out and with me but decided that would be going too far. I raced downstairs and answered the phone.

"Did I wake you?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah I hope you didn't try calling a lot, I was pretty out." I certainly sounded awful, my throat groggy from crying.

"You don't sound too good Bella; I hope you aren't getting the flu. I don't think it has been going around school, has it?"

"No dad, I don't think it has, I don't feel that bad." He had no idea how I felt.

"Alright, well I'll be home tonight, don't fix dinner, I can pick something up for both of us, if you feel like eating."

"Okay dad thanks, I'll see you tonight."

I hung up the phone and raced up the stairs back to my room.

The CD was still in the stereo. I sat there staring down as I could see the revolutions of the disc spin round and round. I drifted back to my previous thoughts before I fell asleep. Why did he leave these? I should accept my first notion that he wouldn't think I would be smart enough to dig up the floor to look for them, but what if there was more reason for this action? Why? I pondered for a while but had to stop before the pain in my heart made me physically ill. I lay back onto my pillows again and stared at the pictures. The picture I kept in my mind did no justice to the picture of him I was holding now.

A few hours passed as I lye there being flooded by my memories of him. I let my lullaby play over and over; my cheeks were getting raw from wiping away all the tears. I glanced over at my alarm clock, 3:00 o' clock; school will be getting out soon. Hopefully they had a recount of ballots today and found out that my nomination wasn't correct, I would happily accept that mistake.


	12. Decision

My doorbell rang just then, not once but someone hit it about 6 times before the consistent knocking started in.

Maybe it was Angela here to tell me my dreams came true. I sat up and paused the CD. I went over to the window and saw Jacob's rabbit idling in the driveway. I sighed and went back to the CD player but glanced down at the pictures in my hand. _What to do?_ I stood there for a second but the ringing of the doorbell and the knocking snapped me out of my thoughts. I stopped the CD and took it out. I went over to the floorboard and delicately placed the CD and the pictures back into there place. I made sure there were no holes or cracks they would fall into and lightly placed the board back in. I heard Jacob trying to open the locked door now. I had to get down there before he busted through the house.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, "Bella!" I heard Jacob scream as he knocked over and over again. The china in the cabinet shook from his thunderous pounds. What the hell is his problem? I thought as I walked to the door. I unlocked and saw a frantic Jacob Black in front of me.

"Bella!" He nearly yelled at me, he took a step closer to me but stopped when he saw my face. I hadn't looked at it but I'm sure it wasn't something to see. "Hi" I looked down and scuffed my feet on the floor.

"I, I went to your school to pick you up but your truck wasn't there, and you never came out. What's going on?" His voice was softer but filled with worry.

I kept my eyes low, "I didn't feel well this morning. Charlie wanted me to stay home. I've been here all day." I said folding my arms across my chest. So this is what it feels like when caught cheating. I wasn't cheating exactly, how can someone cheat on someone by crying over pictures and listening to a CD? But it still felt like I was. I felt horrid right now.

Jacob didn't completely buy it, but he went along with it. "Are you sick?" he lightly placed his hand on my shoulder. I jumped at the slightest touch and he pulled back, I looked up at him briefly, hurt crossed his face, I didn't answer.

"Bella?" He whispered. He went to put his hand back on me but hesitated. I looked up at him and met his gaze. He knew my zombie face just as well as Charlie did. "Yeah" I choked out.

"What's really going on?" He groaned.

"With everything that has happened, I just got overwhelmed this morning. Charlie started drilling me about prom during breakfast and that's just what triggered this. It's just all too much!" I clasped my hand over my mouth and let out a deep cry, my eyes closed tightly as tears began rolling down my face, my whole body trembling. I started to sway forward. Jacob caught me and picked me up in his arms. I wasn't exactly lying just then, everything I said was the truth but I just left out a very important part of the day the main reason for my reaction right now.

Jacob carried me inside and pushed the door shut with his foot, took me to the sofa and sat down cradling me in his arms. I let myself cry out loud, my eyes still closed. He didn't say anything; he just rocked me back and forth, stroking my hair. We sat like that for a few minutes before he spoke. "I don't want you to worry like this. I can't tell you enough that we can handle this on our own, we won't get hurt and most importantly you and Charlie won't be hurt, I won't allow it." He held me tightly for a moment.

"What if you leave too?" I managed to choke out. It took him a second to collect the just of what I meant, his body started to shake.

"I am not leaving you Isabella, not now, not tomorrow, not in the near or distant future. I'm not going anywhere; I don't want to go anywhere. I know you don't like to hear this but I'm telling you again, I am in love with you, I have been since the day we met…or re-met." He stated his grasp still firm around me.

I locked my arms around his neck and heaved a sigh and cried some more into his chest.

I had to promise myself then and now that I wouldn't get out the contents that were hidden in my floorboard. No matter how much I loved Edward, _he _left me, putting into conclusion that _he _did not want to be with me, but for some reason that I will never fully ever understand he put three things that would remind me of _him_ for the rest of my life. And that's where the pictures and CD will lye, indefinitely underneath me.

The one that I was in the arms of right now, who I could touch and would touch me back, who I could look into their eyes, the one that can look back at me, who I can speak to about almost anything is the one that mattered now, and I had to fully appreciate that.


	13. Daffodil

_**I know it's been a few days I had a midterm and a huge presentation I had to focus on for school. Not too much action of any sorts going on in this one, I've had writer's block. BUT I had a great direction I want to take this in so expect goods in the next few days! – Foot Falls  
**_

A long period of time passed, my crying became mere sniffles against his warm chest. He sat there with me until I was ready to return back to reality.

I lifted my face to look at him, he had a serene look. "I should shower or clean up a little before Charlie comes home. I believe I don't look my best right now." My voice was rough from all the crying. I wiped my tear stained face. I looked down at Jacob's shirt and it was wet.

"Sorry." I mumbled keeping my eyes on his shirt. He glanced down and back up at me, "Don't apologize." He held me tight for a second before releasing me.

"Are you supposed to be doing anything tonight?" He asked.

"I'm sick as to Charlie's knowledge, so it looks like I'll be staying in this evening. Are you running tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to do a short shift this evening...Can I come back?" His eyes pleaded.

"Sure, I don't know how long Charlie will let you stay since I'm _sick."_

"He chuckled, "Well it will be interesting to see if he kicks me out or not tonight." He picked me up just to situate me on the couch so he could stand.

"Are you leaving now?" I asked. He could tell by my expression that I didn't want him to.

"I need to meet up with the pack. I have been gone for a while. I'll come back soon, I promise." He reached his hands out for mine. He lifted me off the couch and wrapped his arms around me. "I'll be back soon, okay?" He whispered in my ear.

"Alright." I pulled back from his grasp to smile up at him. I felt better now, I always feel better when Jacob is around.

I walked to the front door and opened it for him, to leave. "Oh God, I left my car running!" He shouted as he ran out.

"You've wasted so much finite resources! You probably gave us one less day on earth because of that, thanks for killing the kittens!" I called out to him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" His face crinkled up.

"Every half hour you let your car run, God kills a kitten." I had heard that at school during Environmental week last month.

"I don't think that's how that saying goes dear." He walked back up to me and embraced me.

"You're weird sometimes." He kissed me lightly. "I gotta get back to La Push now. I'll see you later, babe." He let go of me and headed for the car, smirking.

"Babe?" Now I was the one crinkling my face at him.

He laughed out loud and got in his car.

I went back in my house and shut the door behind me.

I leaned my back against the door and closed my eyes, recalling the day's activities and what was waiting on me up stairs.

I went up to my room and stared at the loose floorboard. I wanted so badly to take out the contents which it held but I knew it would just take me back to the state I was in earlier today. I sat down at my computer desk and took a piece of scrap paper and a cheap pen that had been wedged inside my desk since the days I would just stay with Charlie during the summer time. I decided that I would write down my thoughts from earlier today to help me stay away from the floorboards.

_I will not pull out the contents of what this flooring holds. I love Edward Cullen but he left me. The contents here are the physical remains of what we had. Edward Cullen does not want or love me anymore, but for some reason that I will never fully understand is that he put these three things here that would remind me of him. If they were meant for me to find or not I do not and will never know. I am letting go now of the best days my life has offered and putting them in the floorboards along with these remains. I know I will never feel again the way I felt for Edward and I accept that now. These pictures and CD will stay here underneath me, to symbolize what I had and what has been lost forever and that is all. There is no reason to look at these unless I want to hurt anymore._

_The one that you can put your arms around, the one who will hold you there as long as you need, the one who can look you in the eyes and tell you how much he loves you is the one that mattes now, Jacob Black matters now._

I picked up what I just wrote and went over to the floorboards. I looked down, sighed and knelt down. My hands froze on the boards for a moment before I took off the loose one. I studied the pictures and the disc one last time. A lonely tear trickled down my face and fell into the hole in the floor. I took the note and laid it on top of the pictures and quickly took the board and put it over the hole. I sat there with my hands on the board my head hung down gasping for air.

"_I will always love you"_. After saying the words I shook my head and stood up. _Done, gone, not coming back, let go_. I said to myself. I went over to my dresser and pulled out my bag of toiletries and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Although I was _sick_ I thought it would be best to clean up the house a little since Charlie had been gone so much lately. I took out the trash and was cleaning the counter tops in the kitchen when I heard a knock. I glanced at the clock, it was already seven. I looked out the window, it was Jacob back already. I opened it and he held out a single daffodil in his hand.

"This is for you." He handed it to me and swiftly kissed me on the cheek and let himself in. "Thanks, what is this for though?" I was hesitant.

"No reason in particular, I just saw it and thought of you....well I mean I think of you all the time but if I brought you something every time I thought of you, you would have the whole world already." He winked at me, his hands behind him rocking on his heels.

I rolled my eyes, "Aww so sweet." I said sarcastically, turning around to put my cleaning supplies away. Jacob followed, keeping at least one finger lingering on me. He was like a little puppy following me everywhere I went.

"What do you want to do?" He asked.

"Hmm, something normal? If that's possible?" I turned to face him.

"That might be possible." He smiled. "We can see if that Tarantino _Grind House_ movie is leaked online yet." His eyes brightened.

"You mean the one with the killer car and gory mutated people right?" The look on my face gave away that I had no desire to watch it.

"Or we can see if that Sandra Bullock movie is online." He said disappointed.

I huffed, "NO! Something in between those two. We need to bring the laptop down so we won't be alone in my room when Charlie gets home."

I brought my Mac book _(movie part I know, sorry)_ down and let Jacob pick out the movie while I looked for a vase for the flower.

"Found one." We were bantering back and forth from the living room and kitchen to decide on a movie.

"Okay I'm going to trust you on this one." I called to him from the other room.  
"Good." He replied

I came in as the credits started a girl on roller skates was skating around a venue.

"What is this?" I asked skeptically.

"Boogie Nights." Jacob chimed back.

"No! That is not the type of movie Charlie needs to come in on! And I don't have any interest in seeing Mark Walberg's foot long..."

"Okay, okay! Children of Men, it's settled."

"Is that the one where The Governa is pregn..."

"No it's not, this is new, just sit down and watch." Jacob's tone was irritated.

I complied and sat next to him. He almost immediately reached out and pulled me to the couch to curl up with him. He situated the laptop just right and started the movie.

Charlie came home about half way through the film, "Should I not be so close to you?" Jacob asked...I went ahead and sat back up straight on the couch, Jacob doing the same.

Just then Charlie opened the door. "Hey kids." Charlie greeted as he hung his coat and belt up.

"Hey dad" "Hi Charlie" We both said at the same time.

Charlie came into the living room and Jacob paused the movie. "How are you feeling?" Charlie asked.

"I'm feeling okay." Good thing my voice will still shot from a day's worth of crying.

"You don't sound so well, maybe you have allergies." Charlie shrugged. "I hope it is because I don't want Jacob here catching anything from sitting so close to you." Charlie smiled.

I immediately started to blush.

"Bella's been here all day by herself and I thought she would like some company this evening."

"Very thoughtful Jake, can I watch the news while you watch your movie?" Charlie was really asking if we could watch the movie somewhere else.

"We can take it upstairs dad." I yanked the charger out of the wall and stood up.

"You don't have too, but I missed a game tonight and wanted to see the recaps." He reclined back in his La-z-boy and clicked on the TV.

"Oh its fine, we can go to my room." Jacob and I started are way out of the room.

"Oh yeah that's a nice flower you got in there Bella, where did it come from?" Charlie asked speculatively. "I got it for her Charlie." Jacob called back. My face was scarlet now. "Good choice Jake." Charlie chimed.

"Let's go." I huffed and almost ran to my room.

"Thanks Charlie." Jacob smiled wide.

"Yeah I hope I don't get any calls from our neighbor Mrs. Barnett in the near future about missing daffodils from her yard."

"Uhh, I don't think that'll be a problem." Jacob raced up the stairs then into my room. I heard Charlie laughing from a distance.


	14. Feet First

Some time before the movie ended I fell asleep in Jacob's arms. He lightly shook me until I awoke. "Mmm, good movie." I yawned.

"Are you serious, it was great! I can't believe you could sleep through that." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek. "It's getting late I should take my car home." He stretched and sat up on my bed.

"I'm going to bed." I stated and turned over on my side. "Are you going to be outside my house tonight?"

"Yes, unless you want me inside." He yawned.

"You can, you really need sleep Jake the circles under your eyes are starting to scare me." I reached for his face and traced the circles.

"I can't I told Sam I would look out here tonight. I probably shouldn't stay inside because I will just end up falling asleep. Hey, you know how I said I would take you cliff diving?" He asked.

It took me a minute to remember "...Yes, kind of."

"We can go tomorrow." He said.

"Won't it be cold though?" I shivered at the thought of the ice cold waters.

"No, it's going to be warm, I know it."

"But what about being on guard with Victoria, don't you need to be out there in wolf form?"

"I promised you I would take you cliff diving, and I'm going to keep it. Besides I feel awful that you have to stay couped up in my house on the weekends. I can take some time off besides I'll be with you, protecting you." He smiled.

"I guess your right." I agreed.

Jacob stood up and I crawled out from under the covers and got out of bed. He streched out and walked over to me. I couldn't get used to his ever changing body. I put my arms around him and stood on my tip toes to reach his lips to mine. "Thank you" I whispered.

"For what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"For being here for me today. I feel better now." I closed my eyes for a moment and laid my head on his chest. He wrapped his warm arms around me and kissed my head.

"Your welcome." Is all he said.

We stood like that for a moment then we headed downstairs so he could take his car back to La Push.

"I'll see you tomororw. I'll be close tonight." He said as we walked out the front door. "Alright, be safe." I whispered.

"I will, goodnight." He kissed my cheek and left.

It seemed that my absence from the day before did calm the school down from the prom hysteria. I made it through all my classes with only a few comments and congratulations from students. At lunch I had to hear all about Angela and Lauren's hair and dress ideas. I was relieved to make it to Spanish last hour.

"Are you dating that La Push kid?" MIke Newton asked bluntly as we were waiting for the bell to ring to signal the end of the day.

"Yes, I am." It was strange to hear the words come out of my mouth.

"Isn't he younger than you, like a sophomore?" Mike asked.

"He's old for his age." Just then the bell rang I grabbed my stuff and didn't take another look at him.

"You got that right, that kid is huge!" He tried to keep up with me but I ignored him and headed out of the building towards my truck. Sure enough Jacob was leaning against the side of it when I approached him.

"How was school today?" He asked as he opened my passenger door for me. "Awful as usual." I huffed and climbed in, before he closed the door he took my face in his hands and kissed me. "I'm sorry to hear that. But now we get to have fun." He smiled and shut the door. I saw Mike Newton walk by and shake his head and glare at Jacob as he got into the drivers seat. He started the truck and we made our way to La Push.

"Watch your step" Jacob grabbed a hold of my hand as we made our way to a small jetted out area of rock on a cliff at La Push beach. The water from the ocean sprayed us as made are way down.

I packed my bathing suit in my back pack before school today, I was glad I did. Jacob of course was in his usualy shorts that were originally sweat pants.

"Are you ready?" He asked as we stood on the edge of rock. "Not at all, let's do it!" He turned and faced the ocean.

"Wait, how do we jump? Should we dive? What if there are rocks we can't see in the water?" I started with my million questions.

"Bella, I've jumped off here a million times, we're going to be fine."

He took my hand and we both turned to face the dark waters that we would soon meet, together. "Ready now?" He smiled at me. "Yes, on three...1...2...3!"

We held hands and jumped off together. I sceamed in thrill as we hit the water. I was right about one thing, the water was ice cold. We both came up gasping for air.

Jacob swam towards me. "What'd ya think? Fun right?"

"Wow Jake, I've never felt such a thrill...Much better than the bikes." I was still trying to catch my breath.

"And a little bit more safer." He put his arms around my waist and I held on to him because I wasn't the best swimmer. "Do you want to try it again?" He asked as he brushed some of the hair away from my face.

"In a minute, I need to catch my breath."

He came closer to me and grabbed my face in his hands and met his lips to mine. I wrapped my legs around his torso and pushed myself up against his body. He caressed my neck with his lips and began sucking on my ear lobe. I leaned my head back and moaned. His hands trailed my body as he treaded the water beneath him. I took his face into my hands and presesd my lips to his and my tounge entered his mouth. He liked this, his hands grabbed me from behind as he thrusted himself into me, he let out a loud moan and pulled back.

"Let's go back to the beach." He breathed.

"Alright."


	15. A Death and a Visitor

I slung myself onto his back as he swam both of us back to shore. When he was able to stand up in the water he slid me into his arms and carried me to the shore. He laid me down in the dirty sand and continued where he left off. His fingers grazed my skin as his lips made a trail from my mouth down past my neck. Once again, I wrapped my legs around his torso he crushed his face into my neck. "Isabella, I love you." He whispered as he lightly bit down on my ear lobe. "Jake" I breathed, I didn't like it when he told me that, because I wasn't ready to say the same to him. "Shh." He traced his thumb along my lips, I moaned quietely. Jacob lifted me off the beach and crushed me up against his lower body. My moaning grew louder as he thrusted into me with our clothing still on.

He lifted my face to his and kissed me to the timing of his thrusting movements. His hands made his way from my face down passed my neck and his fingers traced my bikini line. His hand cupped my left breast....and that's when I pulled away. "We're going to fast!" I gasped. "I can slow down." He removed his hand from my breast and put it behind my head and crushed his lips to mine. I kissed him back deeply and pulled away again, "No, we should stop...I haven't gone this far before, I'm kind of freaking out." I explained.

He gaped at me, "Really?! Okay, okay yeah let's take it slow." He stood up with me around his waist still, I still felt him through my bikin bottoms. He let go of gently and stood me on my feet.

"Why have you done this before?" I glared at him.

"Bella, no! I haven't. I just thought you...."

"Well you thought wrong." I crossed my arms and headed up to the rock where we were earlier.

"Uhh, I'll meet you up there in a minute. Be careful!" His voice cracked. I knew he wasn't capable of walking any where in the state he was in right now.

"Don't worry about me!" I called back as I situated my bikini to look somewhat decent.

I climbed down to the rock and sat down pulling my legs up to my chin as I waited for him. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty about what I just did with Jacob. Soon enough I heard Jacob climbing down to the rock. He leaped from a ledge and landed gracefully next to me and sat down. "Sorry about that. I really don't want to do anything your not ready for." He brushed his hand along my jaw line.

"S,okay." I mumbled looking down.

He sighed. "I feel awful Bella, I really do." He put his face in his hands.

"No, don't feel bad. It wasn't just you, it was me too. I just got caught up in the moment and then freaked when I realized what could happen if we went further, and I'm just not ready yet and..." I groaned and burried my face into my hands then.

He stroked my nearly dry hair. "What would have happened?" I could tell he was smirking.

I looked up to glare at him "You know!"

"What? No, I don't know anything, what would have happened if we did go farther. Can you please elaborate? I have not a clue what happens when..."

I cut him off "Jacob Black I swear I will throw you off this rock if you don' stop!" I scorned.

His hearty laugh was echoing off the rocks. He stood up and walked to the edge of the rock. "Alright then, try it!" He held out his arms and hit his chest with a fist. "C'mon!"

I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. "You are so rediculous."

"I'm waiting." He shrugged.

"I've tried moving you before and I wasn't able to. You're indestructible babe." I reached up and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me. "Ready?" He whispered in my ear.

"What! No Jacob let go!" But it was too late he leaned back off the edge and let himself fall off, with me in his arms. This time I screamed in fear, not thrill. We hit the water and his embrace didn't faulter. He brought me back up to the surface.

"I can't believe you!" I scowled at him but my anger didn't work on him. My hair was half covering my face and I had a twig intertwined in it. I furiously tried to brush my hair off. He lightly pulled the twig out from my hair chuckling.

"Don't be mad, it was fun." He kissed my forehead and swam with me back to the shore. I admit it, I couldn't stay angry at his infectious smile.

We spent the entire afternoon flinging ourselves off the little drop off into the cold waters.

The sun was about to set and Jacob had to go meet up with Sam.

We made our way back to the house and saw Sam's car in the driveway. Jacob picked up his pace. "Were you expecting Sam this early?" I asked.

"No, I don't know what's going on." We made our way inside and saw Sam, Emily, some of the members from the pack and Billy sitting around the room with their heads hung low. "What happened!" I panicked.

"Harry Clearwater had a heart attack this afternoon...He didn't make it." Sam said to us.

"What!" I gasped.

Jacob went to his dad's side as the room grew quite once again.

"Your dad's at the hospital with Sue, there's going to be a lot of things that are going to need to be done, and the kids..." Billy sighed, he looked up at me, his eyes red from crying.

"I should get home, I need to be there when Charlie gets home." I started towards the door. Jacob caught me by the shoulder. "You don't have to go."

"I want to be there for Charlie. Harry's one of dad's best friends too."

"Are you alright to drive?" His eyes were worried as he followed me out to the front porch.

"I'm fine, I'll call you tomorrow, you need to be with your dad. Don't worry about me." I wound my arms around his neck and kissed him with a little more passion then appropriate for this time.

"Alright." he touched my lips with his thumb after we pulled away. Jacob swiftly went back inside.

I turned and took one last glance at the somber living room through the windowand headed for my truck.

I felt even more guilty as I was driving home from Jacob's. We spent the whole afternoon making out on a beach and having carefree fun as everyone else morned a loss of their friend, father and husband. I shook my head and turned onto my street.

I pulled into my drive way and recognized a familliar car in my rearview mirror. I sat in my truck for a at the black BMW. Carlisle's car.

My heart stopped beating I swore it did for just a second. It took me a moment to catch my breath. I was frozen in my seat. "Why is Carlisle here? Who would have the same car as him in Forks, WA? What if it's a trick? It could be Victoria." I opened my truck door slowly and stepped out and shut it quietly. First, I contemplated about going back to Jacob's and telling them about this but, what if it really was Carlisle. Jacob wouldn't let me go back to my house under any of those circumstances. I peaked in the car and sure enough it had to be Carlisle's, there was a stethoscope laying in the backseat. I went up to the house and unlocked the door and stepped in.

I froze in the dark hallway, I heard nothing. "Hello?" My voice cracked, I started to believe I was just hallucinating and glanced back out my window, his car was still there. Right then the lights flicked on and standing in the center hallway was a angelic face that I knew too well.


	16. Seattle

"Bella?" The musical voice I had missed so much asked.

That's when I fainted.

I awoke in the arms of a stone cold angel. Alice was here. I stood up straight and stepped back from her. She looked bewildered as I'm sure I did too. I knew this was just a hallucination.

"What are you doing here?" I took a step back.

"Bella, I was going to ask you the same question. Don't be afraid, I'm sorry I came. I can leave if you want." She took a step back to turn around. I fully spritned towards her and wrapped my arms around her and immediately started sobbing. "Don't go Alice! Don't!" I screamed.

She turned around and held me and escorted me to the couch.

(PLEASE JUST READ THROUGH THE NEW MOON PART WHERE ALICE SHOWS UP, I DON'T WANT TO WRITE IT HERE, JUST GET A FEEL OF THE SITUATION AFTER READING IT.)

"Bella I saw you die. You have to explain why you aren't dead or why you aren't one of us."

I knew then why she was here.

"You saw Laurent attack me?" I asked.

"No, I saw Laurent kill you." She corrected me.

"I don't remember well myself, I hit my head hard. But Sam saved me and killed Laurent." I stated.

"Who is _Sam_?" She questioned.

I didn't know if I should tell the secret, she knew no ordinary human could kill a vampire.

"Sam is a friend from La Push." She knew I wasn't telling the whole story.

"Sam is strong." I said. She still didn't buy it.

"Look, Sam's a werewolf and I guess werewolfs can kill vampires easily. Because I saw it with my own eyes." I spoke the last part slowly to her.

Alice's expression went flat and she looked away for a moment. "Alright, maybe that explains why my vision has been lacking around you....Do you spend a lot of time with this Sam?"

I thought for a moment, I didn't want to give away each of the boys' identities. "Not as much with Sam." I said sheepishly.

"Are there more?" Her eyes grew wide.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Six....and counting, Carlisle knows about them. They were here when they came to Forks years ago."

She gaped at me, "and these are your friends?" She looked a little disgusted.

"Now they are. Look Alice things haven't gone so well since you left. You saw it with Laurent...Well he hasn't been the only problem here. Victoria's back."

Alice looked mortified "She's back, Why? Is she looking for us?"

"No, she want's mate for mate...as in me. I guess she doesn't know things aren't the same as they used to be." I wrapped my arms around my stomach.

Alice sighed and patted my back, "You out of all people could find a pack of werewolves and not one but two vampires that wanted to do away with you."

We sat there on the couch for a few hours talking about what everyone except for Edward. She told me about what the family was doing now and what was going on in my life, I kept the Jacob part out of it. I would tell her eventually I promised myself I would. And then I told her I was on Prom Court.

"No Freaking Way! Where is your dress!!!" Alice squeeled as she stood up jumping up and down.

"Alice I don't have a dress, I don't know if I'll even go!" I groaned.

This upset her, "Bella you are going to this prom and you are getting a dress and shoes and jewlery and the best of it all. I'm going to make sure of that!" She crossed her arms and stared down at me.

"It's probably just some sick joke Alice, nobody wants me there." I tried convicing her.

"That is complete _bull _Bella Swan, every guy in that school thinks you are beautiful and a lot of the girls there think you are great too! Now tomorrow morning were going shopping for a dress for you." She was thinking this through I could tell. "Yes it will work." She said after a minute.

"Really? Where? Can we go far away? Like Seattle? Please Alice, I would love to get out of this place for just a day." I exclaimed, even though I would prefer it would be under different circumstances other than prom.

"Well you're going to have to ask Charlie, he's going to be here any minute." She looked out the window.

"Okay!" I jumped up then remembered about what happened to Harry.

Charlie came in, I hugged him and apologized about Harry's passing and asked if there was anything I could do.

"No Bells, it's alright. Who's car is that out there?" Charlie looked passed me out the window to Carlisle's car. His face grew worried.

"Dad, Alice Cullen heard I was on Prom court and wanted to come here and visit." I said slowly studying his facial movements. He loved Alice because she took care of me after the accident in ways Charlie could not have. Just then Alice sprang down from upstairs.

"Hi Charlie, I'm sorry my visit is at such bad timing. I was in the neighborhood and heard about Bella. I just wanted to come visit for a bit. Is that alright?"

Charlie was dumbfounded. "Alice! Yes, yes of course it's alright." He looked down at me speculatively.

"Can she spend the night tonight dad? Please?" I begged.

"You know I wouldn't mind Bella. Besides I'm not going to be here tomorrow. I have a lot to do with the Clearwaters."

"Thank you so much dad!" I hugged him and ran upstairs with Alice.

///////////////////////////

_(Refer to New Moon for Alice and Charlie's talk)_

Charlie and Alice talked the next morning , she asked his permission to take me to Seattle until Sunday night to go dress shopping.

"Alice, you would have no idea how much of a life saver you would be if you did." Charlie was relieved not to have to take me to those types of stores. "I'm not going to be around for a while dealing with this situation with the Clearwaters and I'm not going to be my best around her and she needs to be surrounded by good friends right now." Charlie sighed.

Charlie emptied his breakfast and cleaned the table.

Alice came upstairs and joined me and told me the good news that Charlie was letting me go to Seattle with her for the weekend.

"I believe this is going to be a great time, besides the whole dress shopping part." I smiled.

She thought for a moment, "It will be a great time and the shopping is going to be fun too!" She promised me.

"Bella, I'm taking off now." Charlie called from downstairs. Alice and I were up in my room on the internet. "I'm going to go tell Charlie bye." I told her and raced down the stairs. "Hey dad, thanks for letting Alice take me shopping this weekend. If you don't want me to go I would understand I know there is probably a lot to do with the Clearwaters over the next few days, I can stay here and help out." I was hoping he wouldn't say I should stay home but I just felt so bad for him.

"No, I want you to go. I'm not going to be here much and I don't want you here by yourself all the time. You go on ahead. Call me tomorrow though." He hugged me quickly.

"Thanks dad. Hey, can you just tell Jacob I went with my friends from school to go shopping. Jacob's feelings about The Cullens are the same as Billy's and you know if he knew I was out with any of them, he might get jealous or mad, and I just want to avoid that right now."

Charlie put his hands on his hips, it looked like he was contemplating the ethics of fabricating the story for Jacob. "Well, I guess I can do that. It actually might be for the best. I don't want any fighting going on between you two before the funeral or the big dance. Ok honey, I'll see you soon." He leaned down and kissed my hair and headed out the door

"Bye dad, I'm sorry about everything."

"I know me too."

I raced back up the stairs to Alice watching YouTube videos of little children talking about kittens. "What was that all about?" She asked withouth looking at me.

"I'll explain later. Can we go?" I grabbed my backpack of a few changes of clothes and toiletries. I was in a hurry in case Jacob randomly showed up and smelled Alice.

"Yes but why are you in such a hurry?" This made her look up and take more notice of my strange actions.

"Again...I'll explain once we leave. I just really want to get out of here Alice!" I stood impaciently by the door with my backpack on.

"Fine, I'm ready." She shut my laptop screen, jumped off the bed and flitted down the stairs. I followed her as quickly as I could. Soon enough we were in Carlisle's car racing out of Forks.


	17. Catching Up

As we passed the city limits, I glanced behind me, just in case a huge mutant russet wolf was following us, but nothing was there except the green moss covered town we were leaving behind for the weekend.

"Would you like to tell me what is keeping you looking behind us every minute?" Alice probed.

I had to decide then if I should tell her everything about Jacob because she could see right through my lies if I kept any parts from her.

"Alright, I'll tell you…everything that has happened… I just want to back track err explain how all of this began, first."

"We have a long drive, I'm all ears." She smiled endearingly and grabbed my hand.

"Okay..." It took me a moment to collect how I was going to start. "When _he_ left me, when all of you left me it was really hard and..." She already cut me off there.

"Bella, I talked to Charlie about you this morning he told me how you have been and I want to honestly apologize for how I left you without saying goodbye. I didn't know it would be like this." She shook her head sadly.

"No don't say that, I forgive you, I know _Edward _wouldn't let you. Now let me start." I smiled sadly for a brief second.

"I didn't really have anyone when you left you know besides Forks High School's _finest_, you understand that. I started spending time with my friend Jacob Black from La Push and then soon after we started hanging out all the time. Every day after school we would spend our time together and when I was around him, I felt a little better about myself and life in general. Well, Jacob disappeared for a while and finally about a month later we met to talk and it didn't go over well. He ran into the woods and I followed, that's when Laurent found me and well Sam took care of him. But that day I found out that Jacob and the others were actually werewolves and Laurent and Victoria were in the area, looking for none other than me and killing the locals in the process."

I stopped for a moment reviewing what I just said, it came out so fast, it sounded so stupid but I didn't know how else to explain this right. "I began to realize that I owed basically my life to Jacob, without him out there chasing away Victoria all this time I would be dead. And Jacob, he has always thought of me as more than just a friend, I felt like I owed him more. So we started dating but at first it was under the wrong pretenses, like I felt like I owed him more of me. Then one day I found the pictures and CD Edward left behind, hidden under my floorboards. Alice, I can't even explain the pain that went through me when I found them. I still don't understand why he was so careless, thoughtless and lazy enough just to stash them under there. He must think I'm an idiot to not think to find them there. _I did find them_ and it tore the biggest hole inside me. But it made me realize that he really must not care about me to leave those things behind after he said he would make it like _he wasn't ever here_. He_ obviously_ didn't care enough to even follow through with that promise!" I was screaming now, I didn't mean to. I took a few deep breaths and shut my eyes momentarily.

I opened my eyes and Alice was gaping at me. "Bella, I, I don't think that's what he..."

I cut her off. "Alice, I don't want to go more into it. Let me finish. That day I found those mementos of him. I decided that Jacob was the one that I should really give all of myself to, that I did care about him _immensely_! He's almost always been there for me."

I sighed and looked down for a second, "And this is where I'm at now. My best friend who recently turned out to be a werewolf is my boyfriend and I have a psychotic vampire that wants me dead."

I turned to look at Alice, her eyes were wide as she sat there staring back at me when she wasn't glancing back at the road.

"You're dating a werewolf?" She eyed me obviously disgusted by this fact.

"Yes...It looks like it. And he wouldn't be happy that I was with you right now that is why I wanted to leave so quickly. I don't _exactly_ know what he would do if he showed up and found you at my house." I shuddered at the thought of my Jacob wolf bursting into full wolf form in my living room.

"Not just a werewolf, but one that's only a few months old?" She practically screamed.

"Yes." I stared at her.

"Bella, it's amazing that you aren't dead." She sighed.

"Why?"

"Werewolves and especially young ones lose there control all the time, he could have had you killed in a second if he became too angry. They could easily be worse than us."

"He's never hurt me..._like that_." I muttered looking down at my hands.

"And _this_ Jacob I suppose is going to be escorting you to prom?" She asked.

"Yes, well I hope so. He's not going to be happy that I disappeared on him like this. But, I hope he will be since I do kind of have to go to it." I winced at just the mere thought of prom.

"Well I guess me watching you get you actually get your crown is going to be out of the question...Oops I shouldn't have gave it away." Alice looked away from me instantly eyeing the road.

"_No!_ You saw that I was going to be crowned queen! Oh this is just great! What a sick joke!" I folded my arms across me and huffed.

"Hey this is not a joke! And I only could see bits and pieces of it because I'm guessing Jacob is going to be with you and as I know now I can't see with him around."

"Will you be there for it?" I asked knowing the answer to the question already.

"No, it wouldn't be a good idea."

"I promise you could do my hair." I flashed a giant smile.

"Bella! Don't torture me with such promises!" She pulled on her hair.

"Please Alice; I won't know how to do my makeup or hair and what shoes go with the dress!" I actually didn't really care about any of those things but I knew she did.

"No, I'm sorry it's just out of the question."

"Fine." I groaned.

It was silent for a few seconds, "What kind of dress are you thinking of getting?" Alice asked.

"What kind of dress do you see me wearing?" I leaned my head back against the seat and rolled my eyes to hers.

"Just the most gorgeous dress ever!" She turned her head slowly and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "I...Can't....Wait."


	18. Red Dress

It was silent for a few seconds, "What kind of dress are you thinking of getting?"

"What kind of dress do you see me wearing?" I leaned my head back against the seat and rolled my eyes to her.

"Just the most gorgeous dress ever!" She turned her head slowly and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "I...Can't....Wait."

The first thing we did when we got into Seattle was hit up the small dress shops in one of the neighborhoods.

"Alice can't you just go get the dress, you know where it is and what it looks like already!" I grumbled as I tugged at the pink fluffy dress she had me try on in one of the stores. "Bella you are taking all of the fun out of this. This would be almost a wasted trip if you didn't try on dresses. Besides I've never had a sister to dress up before." She pouted.

"You have Rosalie!" I reminded her.

"Yeah she would have fun doing this." She rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm not having fun either!" I whined.

"Okay fine, go change and let's go down the street where your dress is." She sat down on the store's ottoman in defeat.

"Thank you Alice." I breathed a sigh of relief, gathered the long train from my dress and headed for the dressing room.

I could hardly keep up with her as we walked down to Brietie's to purchase my prom dress she envisioned earlier today. She swiftly went inside and scrounged around for a moment and walked back to me with the dress.

"Here it is!" She exclaimed. Alice came flitting out of the back with a bright red sleek strapless dress in her hands.

"Good, let's buy and get out of here." I grabbed the dress from her hands and headed for the cash register.

"Bella Swan you go in that dressing room and try that damn dress on!"

I stopped in my tracks; I don't remember ever hearing Alice curse before. I turned around slowly and saw an angry angelic face glaring at me. "Alice you know it fits!" I complained.

"Get in there!" She stomped her feet and pointed at the dressing room. I stomped inside and put the dress on.

I walked out and Alice gasped. I turned around to the three-fold mirror to see what the big deal was_. Huh...I....looked...good._ The dress fit in all the right places and I hadn't noticed the tiny diamonds that glistened off the bottom before. "Bella, it's perfect!" Alice ran over to me and tugged a little on the sides of the dress and put her cold hands on my shoulders. "Absolutely, perfect!"

"I think I like it." I said studying myself from every angle in the mirror.

I turned to her. "Now can we get out of here?"

"Yes." She rolled her eyes.

I hurried back into the dressing room changed, zipped up dress and put back on the hanger and went to the cash register. I was about to hand the cashier my money the money was suddenly replaced by Alice's credit card. "It's t he least I can do Bella!" She said.

"No Alice I can't let you do this." I whispered no need to start and argument in front of the lady. "Bella, give her the credit card." She eyed me and then motioned to the cashier. I huffed and gave it to the lady.

After we got the dress I made Alice not make me be her shoe doll and go pick out the right shoes. While we were in the store she picked out the necklace that would go with my dress. "I'm paying for these!" I took them out of her hands and quickly made my way to the counter. "Fine." She groaned.

We spent the whole afternoon shopping around the Seattle area for odd and end things that Alice thought I would need for the dance. I started to go along with it just to make her happy. I didn't want to disappoint her because I didn't know if I would ever see her again after tomorrow. Our hands were full of store bags as we made our way to the hotel we were staying at. "I am exhausted." I plopped down on the bed once we get inside.

"It is getting late, I forgot about your rest this evening. I'm not used to being around humans." She said as she flitted around the room putting the bags away.

We stayed inside that night; well I know I did when I was awake. We talked about her family, the latest projects Esme was into right now and Rosalie and Emmett's umpteenth honeymoon. "Alice, I know Edward must be around and I am thankful that you haven't mentioned him, really I am. But, if you do see him could you not tell him about what has been going on with me. I don't know if he does feel at all anymore but I don't want him to blame himself for Laurent and Victoria's return, the werewolves or my condition... If you could just not say anything..." I choked out, holding a few tears back.

Alice put her hand on mine, "It's true he only comes around once every so often. But I can only promise you that I'll try not to think of any of this when he is around, alright?" She grabbed my hand lightly.

"Thanks, Alice" I let a tear fall off my cheek.

"You look exhausted Bella, did you want to sleep?" She asked concerned.

I thought about it, this is the only time I had with Alice, I didn't want to spend it sleeping but I was exhausted from the day's activities.

"Yeah I think I will." I climbed under the covers. "Alice, thank you for everything today and for showing up. I'll remember this forever. This is one of the best days I've had in such a long time." I told her.

"You're welcome Bella, now get some rest. I'm going to leave for a just a little bit later to go hunting so don't wake up and freak out if I'm not here." She said as she shut off the lights. "Alright I won't." I yawned.

Before I fell asleep that night I heard Alice talking on the phone but it was too quiet and fast to catch any of it. It was probably just Jasper, I said to myself.

The next afternoon we packed our things and headed for Forks. My time with Alice was coming to an end I was sure, I wanted to make the best of it so I strayed away from any serious talk for most of the ride home. As we made our way into Forks county line I almost burst into tears.

I sniffled and looked over to Alice. "I know that you have to leave soon, and, and, and I'm just going to miss you so much Alice." I cried out.

She patted my shoulder as she kept her eye on the road. "I'm going to miss you too Bella, but I'm glad I came even though the news of what is going on in your life is pretty much worse than the nightmare that we left you with. I am sorry for that..."

We reached the town limits; I know I didn't have much time. "Will you come visit again, Alice? Please?" I begged her with tears strolling down my face. "It's not a good idea. We promised to leave you alone and I already broke that promise. I don't want you to get worse when I leave Bella. I didn't want that to happen." She sighed.

"No Alice! You have to come visit! I want you to see my crown and pictures from the dance, I want someone to hang out with once in a while. I'll be okay when you leave, I promise." The last part was a lie.

"I'm not going to make any promises but I'll try, alright." She looked away from me, debating what she said was right.

"Thank you Alice!" I reached over and hugged her. We were pulling onto my street now.

We pulled into my drive and we gathered my shopping bags of clothing and headed for the house. Charlie wasn't there but I went in first making sure Jacob wasn't lurking around any corners. I flipped on the lights and invited Alice in. We went upstairs and put my things away and went back to Carlisle's car.

"I'm going to miss you so much! I miss everyone so much! Can you tell them that for me? Can you tell Jasper that I'm not mad at him for what happened at my last birthday, I feel bad about everything that has happened." I cried.

"Bella, it's okay, I'll tell them alright. Don't feel bad about anything; it's not your fault. Bella, I love you dearly but I got to go. I smell a wolf." She hugged me. Uh oh, Jacob's in town. "Alice, just don't tell him please don't tell him. Thank you so much for everything this weekend. I'll miss you and love you." We embraced for a moment then let go. Alice looked at me and took my hands, "Take care of yourself Bella, and I mean it. I know this is an awful situation but please, please be careful, for you, me and my brother. I mean it!...And I'll try to see you....sometime...hopefully soon." She hugged me once more. "Okay." I managed to choke out. "Goodbye Bella." She said as she let go of me. "Bye." I whispered. I watched her get in her car and take off down my road. I stood there and thought about what she said last...Take Care of yourself for my brother? Why would he care anymore, he's not even around. Just then I felt the hole in my chest ache. I knew I had better go inside and take a long shower so Jacob couldn't smell vampire on me. He probably already smelled her around my house. Maybe he won't know whose scent it is exactly.

Once I got out of the half hour shower I spent half the time sobbing in I heard Charlie in the kitchen. I yelled down to him when I was on my way back to my room. "Hey dad I'm back! Sorry I was in the shower."

"That's okay Bella, how was the trip? Did you find a dress?" He called back.

"Yes, I'll come down in a little bit to show you." I went in my room and put my pajamas on and came downstairs with the dress. "Alice picked it out..."

I said walking down. "Wow, that's really nice Bella." Dad looked at it for a brief moment, and then started eating his turkey sandwich. "Did you hear from Jake?" I asked wearily.

Charlie put down his sandwich and wiped his face. "Yes, he came over here and was acting very strange when he came in yesterday. He seemed pretty upset when I told him you would be gone until tonight. Did you guys have plans yesterday?" He asked with an eyebrow lifted.

"No not exactly, you didn't tell him I was with Alice did you?" My eyes bugged out.

"No of course not, I just said some girls from school." He came by here again this afternoon looking for you too. Bella I think that kid has got it bad for you." He took a bite out of his dinner.

"Yes dad, I'm afraid he does. Do you care if I go to bed early? I'm exhausted from all this shopping."

"I don't mind honey; we have an early morning tomorrow remember that." He said.

"I know dad, how has everyone been?" I asked.

"It's been really rough. The kids and Sue are not taking it well at all. It's a hard thing all around." He murmured.

"I'm sorry dad." I hung my head low just thinking about all the fun I had this weekend and what everyone else was going through just wasn't fair. Well I guess having a murderous vampire after you doesn't count as fun.

"It's alright Bella."

"Okay dad...See you in the morning, good night." I said as I made my way up the stairs.


	19. Harry's Funeral

I cried myself to sleep Sunday night, thinking about Alice, what Charlie was going through and the explaining I had to do to Jacob sooner rather than later. I decided that I wouldn't tell him who I was with in fear he might lose it.

Charlie and I woke up early Monday, I was absent from my morning classes because of the funeral. We got ready early. Alice picked out something for me to wear today after I told her I had a lack of nice clothing now. She bought me a plain black dress that went just above my knees, with a high neck line. I smoothed out my hair trying to make it look presentable for today.

I rode with Charlie in the cruiser to the funeral home; we pulled up at the same time as Billy and Jacob. Jacob was glaring at me from the driver's side window. "I think you have a lot of explaining to do to Jake today Bella. He was back over at the house last night wanting to talk" Charlie noticed Jacob's expression.

"Sorry about that dad." I groaned just imagining Jacob arguing with Charlie over waking me up. "But not today, not while this is going on. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. Just don't say anything dad, Jacob hates Alice and everyone in her family...like Billy does....it's stupid." I huffed.

"I agree with you on that Bella, Alice is a great person."

We both got out of the car, dad went to meet Billy, and Jacob got out and helped his dad into his wheel chair. His eyes only left my direction to help his dad. He pushed his dad along with a sour expression as I walked by Charlie's side.

We entered the funeral home and took our seats. Dad scooted down the row Jacob wheeled Billy next to Charlie and Jacob sat next to his dad leaving a seat open next to him and a few seats open by my dad. I decided to sit with my dad and avoid the angry glares and potential outburst from Jacob. He hissed under his breath as I made my decision scooting myself past him to sit with Charlie.

"Not now Jacob!" Billy hissed at him under his breath.

Jacob shook his head and folded his arms across his chest, glaring over to me. I shuddered and leaned back in my seat. I felt horrible about how I left him but his attitude was horrible for the type of situation we were in now.

The funeral ended on a somber note. There was hardly a dry eye in the place. There was a memorial luncheon following at the Lutheran Church. "Can you just take me to school dad? I have a Spanish test today." I asked when we all walked out of the funeral home.

He agreed. Jacob was following us in Billy's truck and then Charlie turned left to go to school, I noticed Jacob's expression changed as we made the turn in the rearview mirror. His eyes hardened as he stared at us until we were no longer in his line of view.

I went to school forgetting my change of clothes for the last hour of Spanish. So I had to go into class with my dress on. Awkward. I took my seat and wondered if Jacob was going to be outside waiting for me after school. I wouldn't be going out that way anyway since I didn't have my truck...I hope Charlie would remember to pick me up after school. The bell rang and I hurried out to the pick-up line for parents and busses and to my relief Charlie was sitting there in line with all the other underage students' parents, waiting for me. Not only did I go to school in a dress but I went home in Police Cruiser, what a mortifying day.

I made my way to the cruiser without looking around or at anyone. I jumped in and Charlie got out of line and turned out of the school. I glanced back at the parking lot and saw a very tall muscular russet colored skinned boy staring at the cruiser from a distance. It broke my heart seeing Jacob standing there waiting for me. I didn't even give him the chance to talk. I felt awful. What a poor excuse for a girlfriend I was.

We got home and I went straight to my room to do homework. Knowing most likely Jacob would show up tonight. I was sitting on my bed translating Spanish words when I looked at my door at my prom dress hanging on the hook. Alice had stacked the boxes of shoes, gloves, hair accessories, necklace, and bracelet next to the door. I got curious to what I would look like with some of the accessories on. I had to make I still looked okay with all of it put together. I undressed and put on my dress, but couldn't zip it up all the way; the lengths of my arms didn't allow it. I figured half way would still get the feel for what it would look like on prom night. I put my 4 inch heels on, cursing Alice for convincing me to get those certain ones and finally I clasped my bright shiny necklace on. I stepped away from the mirror to look at myself. Alice was right...I thought, a slight smile crossed my face.


	20. Welcome Back

Just then the door bell rang. "Shit!" I panicked, it had to be Jacob.

"Bella, Jacob's here. I'm letting him in." I could tell Charlie was fed up with our teenage drama.

"Dad, I'm busy!" I screamed but it was too late Jacob Black was already outside my door.

"Bella?" Jacob's voice wasn't as angry as I thought it was going to be.

"Jake, uhh, could you umm come back in like a little while." I said scuffling around my room trying to get my zipper undone but it got caught on the way down.

"No." His voice turned flat and hard. I stopped and walked to the door. "Please Jacob." I begged. "No. Not before you tell me what the hell is going on!" He hissed through the door quietly so Charlie couldn't hear his tone of voice. "Not a good time Jake, I swear it's not."

"Just tell me where you really were this weekend, and why I haven't heard from you and why you have been avoiding me...Then I'll leave." The voice that came out didn't belong to the Jacob I knew. This Jacob scared me.

"I can't tell you later?" I asked slowly.

"Just open the door, Bella." He huffed.

"No!" But it was too late he was already twisting the door knob to enter, I knew he wouldn't listen.

I immediately backed away from the door, looking down at what I was wearing, prepared to feel mortified. The door opened and Jacob stepped in. His piercing dark, flat expression that didn't belong to him made my stomach go in knots but the expression immediately softened; his eyes grew wide, his mouth fell open slightly.

He stood there staring at me with the saddest eyes. I was frozen in place; my face had to be blushing scarlet right now. "Bella?" He whispered.

"I, I told you not to come in." I tried hiding my embarrassed tears back with no avail.

"You're beautiful." His eyes adored me as he took me all in.

I didn't say anything back. I just looked down at the floor.

Jacob slowly walked over to me; he reached for me but pulled his hand back. I looked up at him with glossy eyes. His face was still soft, "Hey, what's going on?" He asked concerned.

I turned away from him and was about to go sit on the bed. But his hands were immediately on my back when I turned, my bare back, I forgot that my zipper was caught right before my ass. I froze, again, absolutely mortified. He groaned and pulled me back into his arms. "Did you want this on or off?" He whispered seductively in my ear.

I gasped, taken aback by his sudden mood change. "I, I was trying to get it off, I was ha, having some trouble and then you came in." I stuttered through what I was saying.

"Would you like for me to help you with it?" His warm fingers traced my bare skin. I slightly arched my back as he was doing this; the drastic difference in skin temperatures was exhilarating. "It's okay." He reassured me. I wanted so badly to turn my head just a little bit to kiss him but now was not the time, I had to focus...but I couldn't. "Yes." I whispered back.

His hands were automatically at the zipper. He manuvered the catch that was preventing me to zip it down. His left hand slid its way into my dress and rubbed my stomach. He slowly unzipped me, making sure to get a good look at what my panties looked like, when he reached the bottom he put his hands on both sides of my waist and pulled me back against his warm body.

"Do you need help taking it off?" He whispered back into my ear, his hands massaged my skin from right below my breasts to my torso. I leaned back into him sighing, I absolutely missed this in the two days I was gone.

He bent his face down to meet mine, and slowly his lips met my bottom lip. He took it in sucking on it and groaned. His tongue traced along my neck as I panted, reached behind me and grabbed his ass.

Just then Charlie yelled from the bottom of the stairs "Everything alright in their kids?" That made us both jump. "Yes!" I screamed. I spun around and faced Jacob. I grabbed the back of my dress, and searched the room frantically for my clothes. I met Jacob's gaze again and looked down. He had a massive erection for the whole world to see. He quickly turned away from me. I needed to change quickly and we both couldn't leave the room looking the way we did or Charlie would have us burned at the stake.

"Don't turn around." I warned as I slowly slid out of my dress and quickly put my bra, shirt and jeans back on. "Okay you can turn around." I hissed. I was cautious with my precious dress, I hung it exactly how it was before on the hanger.

Jacob was still turned around. "I said you could turn around now."

"Umm, give me a minute please, Bella." He asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah, of course." I walked out of my room to the bathroom to check myself. I studied myself in the mirror, smoothing out my hair; I washed my hands, dried them and came back inside. Jacob had moved to my bed.

"C'mere." He patted the bed.

I sat down and exhaled. "I doubted your where abouts this weekend and I'm sorry." He took my hand in his, staring in my eyes. "I see now...Obviously you were telling the truth." He glanced quickly up to the dress and back down to me. "But why couldn't you have called me at least?" He squeezed my hand and searched my eyes for some kind of answer.

"I...It was a last minute thing Jacob. I asked Charlie and packed my bags and left with my girl friends." It was kind of last minute, we didn't decide till the night before.

"You could have called Bella; you have no idea how worried I was!"

"I was also thinking about what happened at the beach on Friday, and Harry's death. I felt all wrong Jacob. I was freaking out. I'm sorry I should have called." I was lying out of my teeth but it was the best excuse I could come up with. I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair _please don't catch my lying._

_  
_"We could have talked about it you know. Please tell me what you are feeling next time you have second thoughts or fears. It doesn't do any good to just disappear with no explanation. Hell Bella I thought one of those parasites came and took you away!" His eyes grew wide and he held my hands tighter.

He smelled Alice. "What?" I tried to look alert.

"Some bloodsucker was so close to your house on Saturday morning, I could smell it when I came over here that afternoon. I was sure you were dead. I searched and searched but there was no trail, besides within your house. Bella just please don't do that again. I thought I lost you. You have no idea how relieved I was when you pulled up at the funeral."

"Really because you looked like you were going to murder me." I scowled. His attitude was awful today.

"I'm sorry...I was really pissed off."

"I could tell."

We sat there silent for a moment.

"I like your dress." He had a strange smile on his face. I breathed a sigh of relief, it sounded like there would be no interrogation tonight.

"Thanks, I do too." I blushed glancing down.

"So, I guess you have decided to go...Has anyone asked to be your date?" He inched closer to me.

"Oh my gosh yeah I've had to fight them off with a stick! I can't decide between Ricky and Eric. So many boys, so many decisions!" I fell back onto my bed my arm covering my face and sighing. I peeked under my arm and saw Jacob pouting. I got up on my knees and crawled to him winding my arms around his neck from behind him. "But there was this one guy I was hoping would go with me." I kissed his cheek and lingered there.

"Oh yeah?" He asked as he took the tops of my arms and swung himself around to face me.

"Yeah" I breathed. I wound my fingers through his hair and pushed myself to his body. I took his face into my hands and tilted his head back. I leaned over on my knees and kissed him deeply, my tongue entering his mouth. I grinded against his body.

His hands traveled up my shirt and cupped my breasts in both of his hands. I thrusted my pelvis into him making him moan. "Bella" He moaned into my ear. "I'm taking you to the damn prom." He stated then threw me back onto bed. He put his arms on both sides of me trapping me on the bed.

His hands traveled along breasts down to top of my jeans. He made a trail of kisses from my mouth down to my stomach. He tugged at the waist of my jeans, his tongue traced above my navel and down to where his hands were trying to unbutton my pants. "Oh, Jake, slow down." I definitely wasn't ready for what he was wanting to do.

He lifted his head and met my mouth, "Okay baby." He kissed my cheek. He was on top of me thrusting down on me now.

He took my leg and hitched it over him. This was rocking the bed, "We need to be quiet." I whispered in fear Charlie would hear the strange sounds from downstairs. He stopped and we turned on our sides facing each other, our hands running up and down under each other's shirts exploring our body parts.

This lasted for awhile until we noted that it was getting dark out. "Do you have to go?" I asked.

He glanced out the window, "Soon. I have to catch these fucking bloodsuckers Bella; I'm not going to let them get that close to you again." His grip tightened around me and he crushed me against his chest. "Never again!" He murmured into the nape of my neck.

He breathed in my scent and stared into my eyes. _If he only knew._ I thought. "I was an absolute wreck the two days you were gone, Bella. The pack was sick of me, Paul and I got into a huge fight...It was nuts." He shook his head and a slight smile crossed his face. "But now your here, safe in my arms. I'm so happy...So content right here, right now." He brushed a piece of hair from my face and didn't break his gaze.

I felt like a murderer laying here not confessing the truth to him. I caused him all this trouble. But that's how it would have to be if I wanted both Jacob and Alice in my life.

"Me too." I squeaked out. Guilt riding up in my throat.

He collapsed his head on the pillow next to me, keeping his arms intertwined around me. "Want to put that dress back on?" He winked.

"Jacob that was embarrassing enough. Now you won't be able to see me in it until Friday... I almost forgot!" I remembered I was going to see if Emily could fix my hair since Alice couldn't be here with me. "What?" He asked.

"Do you know if Emily is good at girl things like hair?" I wrinkled my nose at him.

"I don't know maybe, do you want to get ready at her house Friday night? You know I actually like that idea, I know you would be safe there." He smiled.

"Yeah if I could that would be a lot of help. I don't know anything about hair, and last year Alice...." I momentarily forgot who I was talking to. Jacob's face hardened for a second but then came back to the face I was familiar with.

"Yeah I'll ask Emily when I go back tonight."


	21. Fall Apart

_**This is Alice's Point of View for a brief moment. I apologize to Jacob fans, for this…but just keep reading.**_

_It's only been a few days since I left Bella in Forks but I can't stop thinking about the several predicaments we got her into. I want to tell Jasper, Carlisle and Esme about what really is going on but I fear that a war would be the only thing that would erupt between us and the wolves, not to mention the toll it would take on Bella. Oh Bella, nothing will ever be the same for her but Edward will never accept that fact. Her life is completely changed now, for the worse, all because of us._

I sighed and went over to my shelves to dust off the vases that had collected some dust. There was hardly any, but I wanted to do something to take my mind off of my almost sister's pending demise.

_Because that is what will ultimately happen sooner or later, hanging out with a pack of young werewolves, Victoria finding her, or anyone or anything else that will happen that would have a reason to want to slaughter her in the coming months…or if she trips and falls on a crack in a sidewalk. I just hope she stays enough time away from Jacob Black so I could at least keep an eye on if she is still breathing or not._

The door clicked open, that was a quick hunt for Rosalie and Emmett, they weren't gone for more than...

Just then I heard our entertainment system crash into our glass living room table downstairs, "No!" someone screamed in agony from below. Edward was back...He must have heard everything I was thinking.

Before I made it out of my room to check the damage he had done, he fled out the front door. I knew exactly where he was going and I don't think I was going to stop him.

_**Bella's Point of View of the same day.**_

I awoke Saturday morning unusually early but how could I sleep when I knew what was coming tonight? Knots already started to twist and form in my stomach just thinking about it. "No!" I groaned as I turned over to smash my face into my pillow.

"What is it?" he sat up in alarm I forget how sensitive his sleeping was.

"It's prom day!" I whined some more into my pillow.

I felt his hand massaging the back of my neck then, "It'll be okay, it's just for one night you know, the whole world isn't going to fall a part in one night." I turned over to meet his gaze.

"My stomach feels like it's in my throat, already." I complained.

"Tonight's going to be great, just you wait and see. You know someone has to spike the punch bowl!" He smirked.

I jabbed him weakly in his stomach. He didn't flinch.

He got out of bed and I watched him as he put his shirt back on and open my window. He leaned out and took a deep breath. His ever changing body overwhelmed me sometimes. He walked over to me and knelt down to meet my eyes. "I need to go meet up with the pack now. You know how to make it to Emily's still don't you?" He stroked my hair.

"Yes, we were just there last night." I reminded him.

"I know." He kissed my forehead.

"See you tonight." I whispered.

"Can't wait." He whispered back to me. Then he was gone, using the window of course. Charlie was still in bed but we didn't want to risk a chance of him getting caught fleeing out the front door.


	22. A New Scent

"Do you have any preference for your hair?" Emily asked as she played with mine.

"Ummmm...No, but probably just keep it down, I have big ears." I wrinkled my face at her.

She laughed, "You do not, but anyway I have an idea for a down style."

"Alright, go for it." I gave her the right away.

I didn't watch Emily style my hair, and I argued with her over putting make up on me. She said I was being difficult, truthfully I was, but I really didn't care what I looked like. I just wanted to get this thing over with.

I was hoping all day that Alice would be wrong about seeing me win. Maybe something will change, maybe I could piss someone off before everyone voted and no one would vote for me. Now I just got to think of something really awful to do to everyone...No I couldn't be mean.

I was a nervous wreck, and it wasn't helping that Jacob was running late. It was 5:30 and he hadn't shown up to get ready. I hadn't seen him since he left my house this morning or heard from. I figured Sam and him would show up this afternoon but both of us hadn't heard from them.

"Do you think they're okay?" I asked quietly to Emily who was making final preporations to my face.

"I'm sure they're fine Bella, there is no need to worry. They are very strong and know what to do in-case something happens. Jacob will be here soon...Now, want to put on the dress? Looks like were done!" She jumped up and stepped away from me. She cocked her head to the side and smiled, "I have to say I did a pretty dang good job." She smiled at me. "Now come look!" She walked towards the bathroom mirror wanting me to see the finished product.

"Okay, but I'm not ready to put on the dress...I'm going to wait till it's time to go."

I stood up and started to follow her into the bathroom.

I heard footsteps on Emily's porch, both of us turned around, our boys were home.

The door came flying open and slammed against the wall. Sam was walking backwards into the house carrying something. My focus shifted from Sam to Paul who was carrying the other end. Paul had the strangest expression as he looked at me. I broke away from his gaze as they made their way into the house, it was Jacob they were carrying. His white t-shirt was tattered and bloodied, his eyes were squinting and he was holding his side. He was breathing hard and grunting from the pain most likely.

I screamed and I felt my legs give out. Emily raced to the boys gasping. "What happened? Sam, what happened?" She covered her mouth as she examined Jacob. Sam and Paul made there way to the couch and Emily grabbed a blanket to put over it so Jacob's dirty and bloodied body wouldn't get it stained. "There was a fight." Sam looked at her sternly. I was crouched down in the same spot still, waiting to catch my breath, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

Jacob's eyes suddenly became attentive as he searched the room...for me. I slowly stood up and made my way over to his side. I gasped as I saw now in more detail the extent of the damage done. My trembling hand reached for him.

"No, don't cry." He tried comforting me, putting his hand in mine.

I hadn't realized that I was crying until he pointed it out. "What happened?" I choked out.

He sighed and his eyes left mine. The room fell silent. I looked around at everyone, their heads hung low. "What happened!" I screamed, tighting my grasp around Jacob's hand and demanding him to look at me as I got in his face.

He lift his head and looked at me, his eyes bewildered by my reaction I guess. I kept staring at him. He took a deep breath. "I got into a fight, Bella I'll be fine. By the time we leave it will only be a scar. I swear don't be upset. I heal so quickly." He took my face in his hands.

"Who did you fight with? Victoria? Who? Jacob!" My eyes intent on his. He knew it wasn't okay.

He was about to speak but stopped for a second, "We, we were tracking a scent of...of unfamiliar vampires. It wasn't Victoria...Eventually we ran into them, they were on our turf and attacked." He looked at Sam. Sam had his arms folded and nodded at him with no expression and left the room with Emily.

"Did they get away?" I asked. The way Jacob talked and what I saw when Sam killed Laurent I was sure they were indestructible.

"Well...they won't be back." Jacob smirked and then his face fell crucial as he looked at me.

"You could have been killed!" I cried, not letting go of his hand.

"Bella, I'll be fine really. Look I'm already starting to heal." He pulled down his tattered shirt and exposed his chest. A big gash was slowly healing before my eyes.

Eventually the others left the room, probably following Sam. It was just Jacob and I now. I sat with my knees curled into me on the floor next to him holding his hand, my head laying on the couch with him. I couldn't stop crying. "Don't do this Bella, not before we leave." He caressed my face.

"We're not going." I stated.

"What! Bella I'm going to be fine by the time the dance starts!" He wasn't happy with my decision.

"You might be physically, but I sure the hell won't be. I'll be worrying about you the whole time. Jacob who were the vampires? Did you know them? Why were they here?" I was frantic.

He didn't answer right away. "I don't know, they were just passing through." He said quietely. "And were going tonight, this incident is not going to keep us from prom." He sat up and let out a deep breath, his eyes tightened. He was clearly in pain.

"No, we need to take you to a hospital you aren't getting better!" I said.

"Really Bella look." He pulled down his shirt again, sure enough the wound was still healing.

"It's not a good idea, Jake." I stood up when he did and wiped my eyes. I looked down and my hand had black streaks on it. I forgot I was wearing eyeliner. "Eww."

Jacob laughed "You look gorgeous already. I better go clean up." He embraced me lightly, he didn't want to get me dirty or bloody. He kissed the top of my head and lingered there for a moment. "Everything is going to be okay. They're gone and not coming back. I'm going to be fine and so is everyone else."

"Why isn't anyone else hurt?" I looked up to him.

Again, it took him a moment to answer, "I jumped the gun and attacked. It was my fault. I need to be more careful."

"Yeah, I would say so." I said examining his body.

"I'm going to shower and get ready. I'll be out in a bit." He let go of me and went to the bathroom.

I sat down on the couch and put my head in my hands. Does he not understand how close he could have been to getting killed? I sighed and one last tear streamed down my face before Emily entered the room.

"Want to fix your make-up?" She sat beside me, bleakly smiling.

"No." I mumbled, my face still in my hands.

"C'mon, you can't go anywhere looking like a raccoon." She giggled trying to change the mood.

That's when I realized how bad I must have looked. I shot up from my seat and looked into a mirror she had out from earlier. "Oh god I look rediculous!" I spun around smiled weakly at her. She laughed and got out her box of make-up.


	23. Prom

_**Apology for not updating in a while. I am on spring vacation in Portland, OR until next week and have a lack of internets. I wanted to get this done before I left but I didn't. Too bad they are only filming New Moon in Portland for the Cullen's house scenes here this spring, no place for extras :( No chance to run into anyone probably. But if you do know when they are coming here, let me know!**_

Emily touched up my make-up and she helped situate the dress on me minutes before. I was standing in front of the mirror in the living room with her and realized I wasn't happy. I kept a smile on my face for her but when I looked in the mirror all I could think about was how I wished Alice was here helping me get ready. I wished Emily's face was Alice's. I sighed and Jacob called for me from Emily's room where he was getting ready.

I made my way into her room. Jacob was waiting for me with a grin on his face. He was all decked out in his tux, his hair a wet mess from the shower. He took me all in as I walked to him. "Beautiful." He whispered as he put his arms around me.

"Hold on! What do you think you're doing Jacob Black! I just got her make-up re-touched. Let go of her now! That can wait till after the dance!" Emily marched in and winked at me after her last sentence. I blushed, I hoped Jacob didn't expect the teen dance movie tradition of losing your virginity after prom because that was a level I wasn't ready to go to in the near future with Jacob even though we have came close to being completely naked around each other.

Jacob let go of me as Emily smacked him on the shoulder.

"Ready?" He asked me. "No, but lets get this done." I said as I took his hand and led him out of the room.

We made our way up to the inn where the prom was being held this year. Luckily, for me it wasn't the same place where last year's prom was held. I don't know how I would have handled being back at the same place with a different person other than Edward. So tonight was a new start to a definite awful night.

Jacob helped me out of the car, this year was also different, I didn't have a cast on my leg.

We went inside, people stopped and stared both at Jacob and I. Most of them didn't know who he was or hadn't seen him since he grew so much. Everyone seemed shocked as we walked hand in hand to our table. I immediately sat down. Jacob huffed "What are you doing! No one else is sitting!"

"Uh excuse me I am not dancing!" I put my arms on the table and fiddled with my fingers. Jacob pulled my seat back and bent down towards me.

"Just a few, okay?" But then Angela and Ben rushed up to me. Angela looked lovely in a light blue frilly dance, her date had a matching tie. "Bella you look so amazing!" She gushed. I turned around and stood up, "You do to Angela..." I tried to say with as much enthusiasm I could conjure up, "When did you get here?" I asked.

"About twenty minutes ago. We have to go in the back room soon for court, aren't you excited! We get gift baskets and everything!" She squeeled.

"Cool" was all I could say, Jacob snorted and shook his head at me.

During the dancing I pressured Jacob to get us out of here, "Please" I begged as he swung me around. I had to give him credit, his gracefulness was extraordinary since he became a wolf. "No" he chorted as he pulled me closer to kiss my cheek. "Charlie and Billy are probably here watching us." I growled. "Doesn't matter they catch us all the time making out." He stated. "Charlie never caught us." I said speculatively. "Yeah he did, he just didn't tell us. He told my dad he saw me pinning you against your truck one night." He smirked. "Oh God" I groaned.

Just then Jacob spun me and dipped me I looked up but upside down and sworn I had seen Alice in the balcony as he did dipped me but Jacob swiftly and gracefully pulled me up to him. His body was tense, his eyes hard and fixed on something in the distance. A low growl came out of his chest.

"What is it?!" I hissed.

Immediately his face smoothed out and returned his gaze to me. But I could see something was bothering him. I glanced over to the direction he was looking but he took the bottom of my jaw and made me look at him. He handled me rough, I didn't like it.

"What!" I spit out. I couldn't read the expression on his face.

But just then our school's secretary came up to me and told me I had to get ready for the prom court march. The thing I dreaded the most tonight was finally here.

Jacob held me tightly and kissed me deeply before I left. "Good luck" He whispered, this wasn't Jacob's face that I was staring at now.

"What are you going to do when I'm gone?" I asked.

"I'll be at the table waiting for you. I'll be right there, alright?" He said.

"Okay" I mumbled. He kissed my forehead and I walked off in the secretary's direction.

We were standing in the back all 8 of us. I was the only silent one besides Mike trying to talk to me. To dig out information on Jacob, and of course I would be walking with Mike up to court in front of everyone. His dream come true, my worst nightmare...well I could think of other things that are worse than that.

As the teachers prepped us at the end of hall before we did our walk up to the stage my stomach did flips. I felt like I was breaking out in a sweat just standing there.

I was counting the seconds until I would trip and fall in front of the entire school. The handful of teachers signaled for us to walk. Two by two we made our way up to the stage, finally it was Mike and I's turn, as we walked I heard whistling coming from the sides, Charlie and Billy were waving and whistling at me while they announced our names.

I blushed obviously and glanced over at the table where Jacob was supposed to be sitting. He was there trying to keep a smile on his face but I knew he was trying too hard. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, ready to jump up and charge any second at Mike Newton who I noticed smirked at him as we walked.

I gave Jacob a sympathetic look before I climbed up the stairs, arm and arm with Mike Newton.

The entire class was watching us, I wanted to barf at that moment.

I kept looking at Jacob for comfort while I was up there but they dimmed the lights and I couldn't see them very well after that. Finally a light fell on the crowd and I went to return my gaze to Jacob but the chair was empty. I scanned the front, maybe he came up closer but there was no sign of him. I felt like I was going to faint, why was he gone? Did something happen?

Student government and various clubs gave speeches and thanked everyone for the night and finally it was the time to announce the King and Queen.

Returning King and Queen from last year announced the nominees and then slowly opened the card for King. "And the 2009 Prom King is Michael Newton" Since it was probably mandatory to clap after the reading of the card I clapped a few times silently and returned to my constant searching for Jacob. Still no sign.

Last year's Queen opened the card then, "And this year's Prom Queen is Isabella Swan!" My head started swirling, my heartbeat faltered for a moment. Then I heard the crowd erupt in applause. Whistles and cheering came from audience as I was ushered by the Junior girls up to accept my crown. "_Why wasn't anyone booing?"_ I wondered in my mind.

Alice was right about me being Queen, I was dissapointed that her mind worked so well. It was a good thing that I didn't have to say anything because I was moritfied enough having to smile my way through the entire ordeal of last year's Queen pinning the crown to my head, the Junior girls strapping a sash on me and being forced to hold a million flowers in my hands. I smiled awkwardly, knowing that the pictures that were being snapped away would end up in the Forks Forum newspaper on Monday. "Front Page!" I heard someone yell from the floor. Yep, front page news, Forks transfer freak girl wins prom Queen, upsets Forks natives. Just what I wanted.

Mike and I had our dance in the center of court but my eyes were constantly searching for Jacob but there was no sign of him. "Congrats!" He said cheerfully as we awkwardly swayed to an awful Nickelback song.

"Thanks" I murmered

Finally the song ended and as if by magic Jacob appeared next to Mike adoring me.

"My turn!" Is all he said as he bumped Mike out of the way. Mike huffed and walked away sulking.

"Congratulations" He whispered as he kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around me. I looked around and no one was out on the dance floor yet.

"I couldn't find you." I whispered back.

"I was here... I got up closer to see you... See it wasn't that bad, was it?"

He smirked...I noticed his tie was messed up, I began examining the rest of his clothing his shirt was hanging out a little..."Where were you?" I eyed him.

He couldn't lie. "I had to run out for a second and talk to Sam. It only took a second, I didn't miss anything, I swear! I'm sorry." He immediately apologized.

"What was so damn important that you had to morf into a fucking wolf at prom to talk to Sam?" I was angry he could tell.

"It's nothing Bella, just let it go alright?" His face turned hard again as he stared off into another direction.

I let go of him and started to walk away. He grabbed my wrist and stopped me, "don't do this now!" He hissed at me.

"I don't care!" I tugged at my arm.

"Look, Bella I don't want to upset you now! Don't you understand, everything I do with Sam is to protect you! It was important Bella, important because it's your safety that I'm concerned about. Now I don't want to talk about it here because right now we should be celebrating." His face was hard and cold.

I didn't respond to him, it broke my heart to know something was going on and no one could enjoy the evening because of me. My eyes were about to spill out tears but he caught me in his arms, "Don't Bella, I didn't mean to upset you I swear. I just want you to understand that I'm not doing these things because I don't care, I'm doing them because I care too much about you."

"Alright." I whispered and pulled myself closer to him and hid my face in his neck. He let out a deep sigh and grasped me and kissed my neck and swayed me to the music.

"I want to get out of here soon." I murmered into his neck.

"Soon, baby, soon."

Hand in hand we walked to the table, I grabbed my bag and wanted to head towards the door but person after person stopped us, congratulating me and asking who Jacob was.

Finally we made our way to the car Charlie and Billy told us they would be watching the game at Billy's tonight. Jacob kept a firm grip on me at all times, he sniffed the air and searched the darkness even after we got into the car. I knew it. Victoria must be close or the others that attacked Jacob earlier today didn't leave like he thought. I didn't say anything though for fear he would get upset again. He drove home with his hand in mine, his eyes constantly searching the darkness.


	24. Thunder Booms

Jacob seemed to settle a little once we made our way to Charlie's house. He was becoming the familiar Jacob that I knew, perfect gentlemen even when we arrived. He got out of the car and went around letting me out. He walked me to the door holding my hand. The rain was starting to pick up so he took off his jacket and held it over my head as I rushed to unlock the front door.

We hovered once I unlocked the door, he was waiting to be asked inside I guess, and I turned to him "Are you staying?" I asked.

His eyes grew wide with excitement, "Would you like for me to?"

"Yes." I smiled as I opened the door and went inside. I've been thinking about this moment for a long time now, it was the only part of the night that I was looking forward to and the most nervous for, even more than being on stage in front of the entire Junior and Senior class.

I took his hand and led the way up to my room.

We stopped once we got inside. I turned to him and took both of his hands. He was smiling back at me.

"What shall we do Queen?" He brushed his fingers through my hair and rested his hand on my cheek. He was calm now. Whatever was bothering him before seemed to have left his mind, for now.

I cringed and shook my head "Don't call me that." I thought about asking what the cause of his absence was at prom but I concluded against it.

He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder and let out a deep breath. "I'm glad the night's over." My arms reached around him.

"Well the night's not completely over." He whispered seductively in my ear. He kissed my neck. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him back gently. I needed to tell him something first before we went further.

"Jacob you scared me today." His eyes were hurt when I pushed him away; he sighed and started to say something. "...I mean you can't do that. You could have been in worse condition than you were. You can't do that to me. I worry about you all the time when you're not with me, when you are out there..."

"But it's my job Bella, it's what I do. I'm protecting you." He tried to reason holding onto my hands.

"I know! But you just have to be careful, what you did today was unacceptable. You have to be careful; if not for yourself than for me...I don't want to lose you Jacob." My heart beat accelerated, here it comes..."I don't know what I would do if something _had_ happened...Jacob, I love you so much." I gazed intently into his eyes.

His mouth fell open slightly. Then before I knew it he was on me. He took my face in his hands as he pulled back from my lips, "Really?" he panted.

"I love you Jacob." I whispered in his ear.

He smiled wide, "and I love you." He responded before meeting my lips again, "So, so much." He murmured.

As we were confessing ourselves to one another I heard thunder crackling and crashing down outside. It sounded so close it startled me. I waited for a bright flash from the lightning to streak through my room but it never came, it must have been farther away than what it sounded like.

Jacob chuckled darkly to himself and smiled at me as he grabbed me from behind. It was like a replay from a few nights before when he first saw me in my dress.

He kissed the nape of my neck and caressed my shoulders. His hands made his way into the curls of my hair to my crown. "Do you think I can take this off now?" I asked.

"I'll do it." He said softly as he lightly took the crown from my head and placed it on the dresser next to us. Then his hands wound down to the top of my dress. He pressed his fingers against the clasp that held my dress together and unhooked it. We both flinched when the next series of thunder crashed around us. Jacob's dark laugh came back for a split second.

My heart started fluttering, I was hoping Jacob didn't think tonight would be the night that we would go all the way since I told him how I loved him. I froze up but only for a minute because I couldn't feel tense around Jacob when he was so close to me. The heat his body gave off and how he touched me made me melt all over.

He unzipped my dress slowly and it slid off me onto the floor. I was finally exposed in front of Jacob but I didn't feel self-conscious about myself at all. His hands left me for a minute as I heard him un-do his tie and unbutton his shirt. I turned around slowly to face him. My gaze didn't leave his eyes as I helped him take off his shirt. He seemed nervous, his body trembling lightly his breath short.

When we succeeded in getting off his shirt he quickly unbuckled his belt to his pants and let them slide down. We stood there marveling at each other, not moving. Jacob made the first move; he reached for me, his hand shaking and placed it on the side of my waist. He pulled me against his body I gasped as the heat of his body hit me. Such contrast.

He guided me backwards to the bed. When we reached he lifted me up into his arms. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck. Instead of lying down I thrusted into him in the position I was already in. When I pulled away from his mouth, I could see his shocked but pleased look on his face as our body motions became in sync.

Eventually he placed me on my feet and turned me around. We could see ourselves in the mirror across the room. He put his hands on my waist as he kissed down my neck while glancing at us in the mirror. His hand slid down to the edge of my underwear. I spread my legs slightly welcoming him in. My heart was racing; I had never gone this far with Jacob ever. I closed my eyes when his fingers entered me and we both exhaled together, my moans were muffled by a clap of thunder that sounded like it was right outside my window and Jacob's fingers began to move faster inside me. His briefs were still on as he slowly thrusted me from behind.

He continued to finger me standing up for a few minutes until I got weak. I had to fall back against him for support. His other hand played with my breasts. I leaned my head back, arched my back, grabbed his hand that was placed on my left breast and moaned loudly as I climaxed. As I was panting he slid his hand out, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into bed.

We got under the covers and I snuggled close to his body. He smiled slightly and brushed a piece of hair from my face. He kissed me lightly on the lips and whispered "I love you."

"I love you too." Was all I managed to choke out. My mind was wrapped in thoughts of everything that just happened. It was a night of firsts and change. My relationship with Jacob is on a whole different level now and I had just lost a little part of me to him tonight. I tried to not think about right and wrong or about last year's prom events even though they were kind of ironic…Jacob showed up last year to prom. I instantly felt sad for a moment and had to take a deep breath before I felt a stab of pain in my heart. I exhaled and tightened my grip around Jacob closing my eyes tight to fight the thoughts. The strange thunder was still rumbling and crashing on in the distance not letting up through out the night.


	25. The Forest

_**Back from vacation! This is Alice's POV! (Thanks for the Reviews and messages, I appreciate them!)**_

I stood back as I watched Edward tear apart the forest. He had finally reached his breaking point. I stood silently still as he uprooted red wood after red wood one handed, throwing them against other trees. It was a down pour tonight luckily, making it somewhat okay for him to be able to do destroy the woods with a little less speculation from the humans in the morning.

Edward let his animal instincts take over, his piercing growls rung through the wooded area as he single handedly mêlée the night.

I felt immense pain for Edward. He didn't know the details of Bella and Jacob's relationship and neither did I know how serious things were with those two.

Earlier that day as Edward and I made our way to Forks we were stopped by the pack of Quileute wolfs right outside of town. That's when Edward got a look at Jacob's mind while Jacob was in human form. Edward was shocked at what he saw and it didn't help that Jacob was thinking in detail about his and Bella's relationship, she must have told him about mine and Edward's abilities.

That was when the first fight broke out. Edward had engaged with Jacob as he morphed into wolf form. Edward got the best of the fight but he stopped once he had put a nasty gash into Jacob's chest, _"Jacob, you know that one bite from me will kill you. I'm not going to continue if what you are thinking is true. I don't want to kill you if you actually mean something to Bella." _Edward gritted gravely through his teeth. This was hard for him to say to Jacob.

I was surprised about Edward's statement but I guess I shouldn't have been. Edward is completely devoted to Bella even though she believes he doesn't care about her anymore.

Of course Edward would stop something if he knew it made Bella upset. I on the other hand would have taken off Jacob Black's face in a second if Edward allowed it.

The wolves asked us to leave the area…Well Jacob demanded that we left or suffer the consequence. I tried to reason with them that I just wanted to see Bella win prom Queen, honestly I did I couldn't wait to see her all dressed up like I pictured. Whoever did her make-up and hair did a pretty good job…I could have done better job on Bella but I knew that my presence wouldn't have been a good one even though I'm here now.

Edward and I argued with the pack, Jacob kept losing control and kept lunging at us but the pack kept him back. There was still somewhat of a treaty in effect that we tried to abide by. I promised nothing about disrupting prom. I told them I would be inconspicuous when I watched but Jacob's answer was still _"No way in fucking hell!"_ to quote exactly. Whatever, I was going to show up tonight even if the dog didn't want me to.

I tried to talk Edward out of going with me to see Bella tonight at prom, it would have been his first time since he left her but he felt obligated to stand by me in case the wolves gave us trouble and he kept insisting that he was going to stay around the area until Victoria was gone, until Bella was safe from danger…meaning to him that Jacob Black must be out of Bella's life.

Immediately once we arrived at the top of the stairs at the school's prom Jacob saw us. We thought he wasn't going to make a scene until he demanded that we spoke outside during coronation. That pissed me off it was minutes before Bella got her crown. It wasn't anything new that Jacob told us he wanted us to leave, that they had the Victoria situation covered and that Bella is happy without Edward now, I didn't believe that one. I could see through Bella when I visited her, she was hurting and after talking to Charlie about what had happened after we left I knew this wasn't something Bella would get over by being with Jacob.

Now, here we were the woods that surrounded the back of Bella's house. Edward even had the nerve to spy on Bella as Jacob through Bella's bedroom window when they arrived. He just wanted to make sure she was okay and that Jacob didn't massacre her after his confrontation with us. That was a mistake.

It seemed that Jacob was telling the truth about the details of Bella and his relationship. What Edward saw in the bedroom is what set him off. He watched as Bella told Jacob for the first time that she loved him. He ran into the woods and that is when the world lost twenty 200 year old red wood trees.

"That mutt! That disgusting awful excuse for a shape-shifter!" Edward yelled as he pounded his fist into a boulder.

"Edward, let's go home." I whispered, knowing full well what his answer would be but I had to try.

"Alice. I am not leaving." Edward stopped and turned to me his fists clenched to his sides. I've never seen that look in his eyes before. They were dark, full of hate and passion for his Bella. I felt awful about what was going on inside of him and of what was occurring in Bella's bedroom. We could hear everything from the forest, giving Edward more drive for destruction.

"Well then let's go to our house then. The humans are going to get suspicious and you don't need to be listening to what is going on in there." I pointed towards Bella's house.

Edward's face fell into his hands he let out a big sigh and composed his face.

"Let's go," is all he said as he slowly started his way to our empty home.

I followed behind but we both froze by what we heard just then. _"Edward?"_ we heard Bella call. Edward slowly turned around to face me his eyes were wide and his mouth gaping open.

"She, she just said my name." He gasped. My expression reflected his. We both turned to face Bella's house in the distance.

We hadn't heard any noise coming from her room for a while she must have been asleep when she said Edward's name. In a flash Edward was up a tree near Bella's house. He wasn't going anywhere now.


	26. Mess to be Made

Bella's POV

Things started to get strange the week following prom. Jacob was gone most of the days and nights and had me stay at his house in La Push after school until it was time for me to go home for bed. He was never around and it left me in awkward situations with Billy in the cramped house and sleeping alone at night. I knew there was a reason for all of this but I really didn't want to know the details, and Jacob wouldn't say, all I knew is that vampire or vampires were in the area, the target most likely me.

It was 10 o'clock now, Jacob should be back any minute to take me back to Forks, and I'm beginning to feel imprisoned, being transferred afternoon and night back and forth from Forks to La Push. All my homework was done for tomorrow and the next day so I started studying for my Spanish test that wasn't for another week. To avoid awkward silence around Billy I lay sprawled out on Jacob's bed with books scattered around me.

I must have fallen asleep studying because I didn't hear Jacob come in. He was lying on the bed spooning with me, stroking my hair and kissed my cheek to wake me.

"Mmmm…hi." I turned to face him. His face was reserved.

"Hey" was all he said then kissed my lips. He pulled back and propped himself up with his arm, his head resting in the palm of his hand, just staring at me.

"What?" He was being weird again, like he had the whole week.

"I feel bad. I'm never here, I feel like I have you pinned up like a puppy." Jacob stuck his lower lip out.

"I am getting a little restless of this." I sighed and shook my head.

"I can't think of any other ways to make you safe." He whispered. "I wish there was an easier…better way of doing this." He reached for me.

"I know." I scooted my body against his.

An hour later Jacob drove me home in my truck, holding my hand as he drove. "I love you, I'll be close tonight." Jacob whispered in my ear when he put my truck in park at my house.

"Stay with me tonight." I begged him as I slid my arms around his neck.

He sighed and pushed his forehead against mine, "I want to…You have no idea how much I want to sleep in your arms tonight. But I know that's exactly what I would be doing rather than being on watch, and I don't want to risk it." He kissed me passionately.

"I'll pick you up from school tomorrow, alright?" He untangled himself from my hold.

"Okay." I became disappointed that I failed at convincing him to stay the night. "Love you." I smiled as I got out of the truck.

"So much." Jacob smiled as he embraced me outside before he took off into the woods.

It was thoughtful and sweet when Jacob first started picking up from school, but lately I was almost dreading the end of the school day, because I knew I would be parked in Jacob's living room all evening and night without him.

"I'm going to try to come back early this evening so we can spend time together." Jacob said as we made our way into his house.

"Really? Have you lost the scent of the vampire?" I asked.

"Well…yeah, yeah we have it's not as strong, I think they have moved on. Maybe a false alarm or one of Victoria's tricks." He replied nervously messing with salt and pepper shakers on the table.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just frustrated." He looked up at me and smiled. "I'll call you after while, k?"

"Alright. Where's your dad?" Billy was usually situated in the living room at this time of day.

"He's with the Clearwater's this evening. He'll be back tonight sometime. You'll be okay, I promise." I wasn't worried about my safety when I was on wolf territory.

"I'm not worried." I kissed him on the cheek.

It was 7 o'clock, Jacob hadn't called, and I had been sitting in front of the idiot box for 4 hours flipping channels every few minutes. I forgot my Science book at home, and I didn't see a problem with running home for a minute to grab it. Jacob had said that they lost the scent of the vampires; it would be safe to make a quick trip home to grab myself, get some air, walk around and well just breathe outside La Push. I got in my truck and made my way home.

I left the windows rolled down; it felt nice not doing the same monotonous activities day after day even though this was just one activity that would keep me gone for approximately 45 minutes.

Charlie wasn't home when I arrived, still working on the unsolved missing hikers…I felt terrible not being able to tell him what really happened to the missing people.

I made my way into the house and trudged up the stairs. My bedroom door was wide open; I never left my door open. I stopped once I entered and gasped from what I saw.

My room was in shambles. My dirty clothes from my hamper were strewn all over, my covers off the bed onto the floor, drawers open, the closet was ransacked and my window wide open. I stood in shock for a moment taking the disaster all in.

As quietly as I could I walked around my room, inspecting the damage, looking for the visitors. It didn't seem like anyone was there. My loose floor board was taken up exposing the contents inside. My stomach started knotting up as I kneeled down to the spot in the floor.

Luckily, nothing was taken out but something was added. I took out the folded newspaper clipping that was placed neatly inside the boards. I unfolded the paper; it was the picture from last week of Mike Newton and me at prom with our crowns on. Under the picture a note written in delicate, perfect handwriting in pen said

_You are beautiful. I love you,_

_Always_

No signature was needed; I knew whose handwriting this was.

My heart faltered but picked up again when the door bell rang.

I got a hold of myself and made my way to answer the door. It was dusk; I doubted the presence of any enemy vampires at the door.


	27. Realization

**Bella's POV. I sat up a 16 song soundtrack in my profile to go along with this story. What do you think of the plagiarism allegations against S. Meyer that broke out last night?**

I flew down the stairs my eyes never leaving the print on the newspaper clipping. Luckily, I didn't trip and fall on my face.

I hesitated at the door, taking a deep breath in. This could easily be one of the last breaths I take. I peaked out the window and standing there staring back at me was a pale choppy haired brunette. Alice got a haircut. She mouthed the words "Open the damn door!" to me with frustrated features.

It took me a moment to figure out the deadbolt on the door from the range of emotions going on inside me. Was my vampire family back?

I flung the door open and Alice immediately had her hands on my shoulders pushing me back against the wall. I gasped and became immediately frightened. "Bella, we need to get you out of here now!" Her eyes were solid black and dead serious. I couldn't speak but just nodded adamantly.

A crash from upstairs rocked the house and both of our eyes became fixed on my bedroom. The door was half open and the figures inside were moving too fast to make out who they were. The growling and hissing was ear shattering, I started to scream but Alice covered my mouth and had me thrown across her back and onto the living room couch in a second.

I slumped over, dizzy and distorted from the trip and what was going on. My heart needed to stop racing and I needed to catch my breath. Alice stood in front of me, protecting me from what ever was about to come.

I got enough hold of myself and sat up and looked up at her, not saying anything. She was patrolling what was happening upstairs with her eyes. I don't know when but the growling and fighting stopped and Alice relaxed a little.

Alice looked down at me then back up, "What happened?" She wasn't asking me but I didn't hear anyone else come down the stairs.

"I need your help taking the body parts out and burning them." The beautiful voice said. I gasped and turned around on the couch to see Edward on the bottom of the staircase. His dark blue t-shirt tattered and torn his hair a mess.

I cried out something incomprehensible and stood up shaking. Alice put her hands lightly on my shoulders. Edward's eyes met mine, my legs gave out beneath me, Alice of course was quick to catch me and stand me up right.

Edward walked slowly towards us; he put his hands out like he was surrendering. "It's alright Bella." He cautioned as he came forward. I tore out of Alice's grip and ran over to Edward tripping over my own feet along the way. I didn't hesitate when I grabbed a hold of him and sobbed into his shirt. His immediate reaction was to embrace me back.

A few minutes passed by, I was situated in his lap on the foot of the staircase crying uncontrollably into his neck. He kept his embrace around me not letting go since the moment we found each other. Alice didn't say anything either, I wasn't sure if she was still in the room. I regrouped myself enough to lift my face to his.

"Are you okay?" I asked, noticing the rips in his shirt. He laughed quietly and stroked my face with the back of his ice cold hand. He shook his head and muttered something under his breath and looked back at me "I am fine; I think the concern here is _you_." His crooked smile enlightened me.

"I don't know what's going on." I was the one shaking my head now. "What did you do to my room?" I speculated and pulled back a little from him.

His face went serious, "I didn't do the initial damage to your room. Someone else did, but I have to admit I did cause some damages this go around."

"Who?" I couldn't comprehend.

"Alice and I caught the scent of a young vampire in your room, unfortunately you came home at the worst time possible but we made it in time, the young one caught your scent when you came home and came back. And now…Alice is taking care of the leftovers of him." He said grimly.

My eyes were wide. Edward held me close and leaned into me smelling my neck. I froze not knowing if he was still capable to control himself after being absent for so long. I could feel him inhale, the tip of his cold nose brushing against my neck.

"Everything is taken care of, I started a fire out past the woods, Bella I cleaned up your room the best I could right now. We got to get situated, the dogs are coming I believe…I can't see shit! Edward stop! You better not be having her for lunch, not after all the cleaning I just did! " Alice laughed and flitted down the stairs to the living room fixing the rugs, couch and pictures on the walls.

Edward leaned back from me with a look of relief on his face but then his face hardened in a moment. He swooped me up into his arms and situated me behind him in the living room. Guarding me from my own boyfriend?

Alice was right about the boys coming. I heard deep barking from every direction around the house and a thump in my bedroom…Jacob used the window. I was praying he was in human form, afraid of the damage he could do as Jacob-wolf. I tried to step away from Edward but he didn't let me.

Jacob flew down the stairs in normal Jacob form and a nasty snarl came out of his throat when he saw Alice and Edward. "What did you do to her?!" Jacob screamed as he ran for Edward. Edward hissed and stood still, his arms flew out blocking me. I jumped away from him and Jacob stopped in his tracks when he saw me beside Edward.

"Bella?" He asked in disgust.

"They didn't hurt me Jake! They killed an intruder, one of the vampires you guys were looking for!" I tried to explain. Edward laughed and Jacob glared at Edward. I didn't understand.

Jacob was tense and nervous. He took a hold of my arm and dragged me over to his side, "Ouch! Let go! I'm fine!" I snatched my arm from him and rubbed the spot Jacob grabbed too hard.

That set Edward off, he stepped forward ready to attack Jacob. "Not a good idea! Edward look out the windows, the house wouldn't be left standing if we created a scene right now…we're surrounded." Alice stepped forward to explain.

I looked outside and was surprised to see many pairs of wolf eyes staring at us with their teeth showing ready to break through windows if needed. I shuttered and stood away from both Edward and Jacob on the neutral side. Team Bella, all alone.

"Yeah we can take this outside." Jacob showed an evil smile.

"There is nothing to take outside! Listen Jacob if it wasn't for them I would be dead and drained by whoever was upstairs a few minutes ago. If I hadn't forgotten my science book we wouldn't have been in this mess. Blame me! If it weren't for my forgetfulness they wouldn't even have came." I pleaded. I knew Alice must have seen the future and I was grateful for that that.

Jacob snickered "Oh they would have shown their faces sooner or later Bells. I'm surprised they didn't tell you sooner that they were in the area." He didn't leave Edward's gaze.

"What?" I looked between the both of them, then to Alice.

"They've been here since the day of prom Bella. Causing us trouble, we've been trying to get rid of them but Edward won't stop stalking you." Jacob gritted through his teeth.

My gaze focused to Edward's, he gave me a pained look "I was trying to protect you, make things right again. I didn't know all of this was going on." Edward looked down and sighed.

"You've been here for over a week!" I shouted.

"She doesn't need protection from you!" Jacob screamed at Edward.

"Obviously she does, she said it herself she would be dead if we hadn't been here Jacob! Give us a little credit!" Alice spoke up.

"Wait, these were the vampires you were fighting these past few weeks _and_ the ones that you were hiding me from?" It all came together now. I was at Jacob's house every day and night because of the treaty. Alice and Edward weren't allowed to come onto their territory because of it. "You, you asshole you lied to me! You were keeping me from my own friends! How could you…" I shouted at Jacob and my face fell in my hands not able finish my sentence.

Jacob's face was still hard when he looked at me, "Bella you don't understand."

"Understand what!" I got up in his face.

"_He_ was watching us the _entire time_. I mean they could have visited if they wanted but they decided not to." He tried to convey something else with his words.

"Damn it!" Alice hissed and turned away.

"What Jacob!" I wasn't letting down. Edward let go of his stance and backed off.

Jacob huffed and grinned, "Bella, that fucking leech was _watching_ us after prom, in your room he was spying on us!"

It took me a moment to understand the exact time he was talking about, then that clicked together. In my room after prom….after I told Jacob I loved him when we went…_that far_. The mysterious thunder…this explains a lot.

I slowly turned around to face Edward, my face a new shade of scarlet and tears were welling up in my eyes. "Why?" I whispered to him.

"I didn't know you were _with him_…with him. I came to make you safe again. To fix the mess I put you in. I didn't know your relationship was…well a_ real _relationship." Edward tried to put it in the simplest of terms. It still didn't help. Embarrassed and hurt tears strolled down my face. I knew what he meant too. Edward and I would never have been able to go the distance Jacob and I went that night, he would have been afraid of physically hurting me in the process.

"I can't believe this. You were here…watching me. You were going to stay hidden from me the whole time if that vampire didn't try to kill me today!" I cried out to both Edward and Alice.

"No…" Edward put his arms out trying to explain. I wouldn't let him. I spun around to Jacob then.

"And _you_! You lied to me! You were protecting me this whole time from the wrong ones! I can't, I can't trust you Jacob! You knew the whole time!" I screeched. That finally broke through Jacob's façade. His hardened face broke down he reached out his hand and tried to pull me back to him but I whipped away from him and started to ascend the stairs.

I looked down to see the opposing sides looking up at me, Alice and Edward on one side of the living room and Jacob on the other side with a pack of werewolves surrounding the house. Any way you look at it this was a really bad situation. "I don't want to see either of you." I ran my hand through my hair, my hurt welled up inside me, and it was a matter of time before I completely broke down.

"What about me!" Alice looked up like her feelings were also hurt.

I sighed and waved my hand towards me, "You can stay and you can help replace the window." I headed up the stairs not looking back down. This was me and Edward's reunion; I might not even see him again after this. But my embarrassment, disappointment and all around tremendous hurt overtook that realization. I needed to be alone to think of all of the new information I just received. Alice didn't follow me up the stairs she must have known right now isn't the best time to clean up. I went in my room to see it still a mess and went straight to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me, locking it.

I turned on the bathroom sink faucet, took a towel from rack and screamed as hard as I could into it, the uncontrollable sobbing followed. I fell to my knees and started rocking back and forth crying into the towel.


	28. Meeting

I woke up to the phone ringing. It was Sunday I was able to sleep in without the interruption of school and I needed it. Charlie was gone fishing with a fellow officer so the phone rang with no answer. It most likely had been Jacob anyway. He's been calling my house non-stop since I kicked him out 4 days before. I even hear him howling outside my window last night. I'm guessing begging for forgiveness for his behavior and his lying.

I wasn't angry with him anymore. I haven't been since a day after the fight. I realized I was just as guilty as he was. I lied to him about leaving with Alice before prom and had him standing on edge looking for me and even thinking I was dead. I was an awful excuse for a girlfriend but Jacob wasn't the only loved one I had to deal with now. Edward was back, I'm guessing because Alice let it slip in her mind that I was in trouble. Of course he would come take care of Victoria since it was our fault that this was happening now. He felt guilty, that was all.

Alice came over every day since then checking on me. We fixed my busted out window the next day before Charlie noticed and she brought over some clothes to replace the ones that were taken, I'm guessing by my visitor. I rolled out of bed, it was 11AM. I cried myself to sleep at 3 o'clock but I still felt like I needed more sleep. I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands.

"Bella, you're up!" Alice chimed as she opened the window.

"Agghh!" I gasped startled by her presence.

"Didn't mean to make you jump. Bella, you still look awful." She patted my back and sat next to me on the bed.

I sighed and looked up at her, "I think I'm ready to talk to your brother now." I said reluctantly. It had to be done; I had to let Edward go.

"Really?! I can call him and have him come over right away; he's just at the house pouting himself away in his room…" She stopped suddenly her eyebrows raised, "Wait, this isn't good is it?" She eyed me.

"No Alice it's time to let him and you go. I'll take care of this problem on my own. You two aren't going to risk your lives over me anymore. I've had a death wish ever since I made my entrance into Forks High School and I'm not going to let anyone go down with me, I've decided it's the inevitable and anyway to delay the inevitable Jacob, if he still wants me, can protect me."

Alice sat their shocked, "Bella you are crazy. If I knew this is what you were thinking without that stinking dog running around your house all day and night long I would have been able to tell you that that won't happen. You have no idea." Alice got up and walked to the window, "I'll be back later today. I'll go tell Edward you want him over." Her expression was sad as she gracefully leaped out my window.

It's true; I'm not going to let them be responsible for this mess.

I knew I only had a little bit of time before Edward made his presence. I got the phone downstairs to call Jacob.

"Hello?" Jacob answered before the phone rang on my end.

"Jake." I wrapped the old phone's chord around my finger.

"Bella!" Jacob screamed.

"Hey I called just to tell you something; well I need to talk to you."

"I'll be right there!" Jacob hung up the phone. I growled and slammed the phone down. I didn't want him over here. It would make things harder and probably would end up in a vampire-werewolf confrontation. But it would be noble to do this face-to-face. Soon enough there was a knock at my door. I went outside and met Jacob there.

He was frustrated. Worry creased his face, he was pacing back and forth. Immediately as I shut the door behind me he grasped me in his signature hug. I didn't fight it off. It felt nice, warm, comforting. I missed it, and I was going to miss it if this turned out badly. "I'm so sorry!" He whimpered into my hair as he held me. My heart faltered for a moment. He was crying. I let him hold me for a moment more as I heard him sniffle and try to collect himself. I pulled back and met his gaze. His face was now tortured.

I towed him to the porch step and had him sit down next to me. He took my hands into his as he wiped a tear from his face with his elbow.

"_I_ am sorry." I said staring into his eyes. He eyed me back.

"For what?" Then some sort of realization crossed his face. His body tensed, his hands tightened around mine. "No!" He gritted out of his teeth. He started to tremble.

Oh no, I didn't realize I would get this kind of reaction from him even before I actually said what I did. I pulled my hands out from him and inched myself away from him. His eyes were starting to collect more tears. Out of reflex my own trembling hand went to catch them before they fell. He grabbed my hand and held it too tight. I winced and looked up at him. "No! Bella why?!" He screamed and the tears spilled over.

I was frozen. I didn't know why he was reacting this way. "Hey, just listen, please?" I pleaded quietly, still shocked with confusion. He released my hand and I pulled it towards my body rubbing it.

He didn't realize the pressure he put on it. He jumped up and started pacing back and forth in front of me his hands balled up. He wouldn't look at me.

I stood up and backed away from him in case the worst happened after I told him. I started talking, too fast. I just wanted to get it out of me. "You know before prom I left for Seattle without saying anything to you and you were really bad because I didn't tell you and I told you I went with some school friends. Well, that's not entirely true." I huffed and then started again, "Alice showed up because she seen me jumping off cliffs and thought I was committing suicide cause you know I told you how she sees the future, well, she couldn't see the future around you cause you're a wolf I guess, so she came to help Charlie with my death and to say final goodbyes'. And well I guess we all know I wasn't dead. So she took me to Seattle to get my dress cause she saw me being Prom queen and I'm sorry that I lied to you cause Alice obviously doesn't go to my school anymore and I know they are your mortal enemy and you were worried. So I have no reason being mad at you cause you were trying to protect me from them and we both lied to protect people we love…well loved. I hope you still love me after this." I took a deep breath and slumped onto the stump where I was before.

Jacob had stopped pacing, he was just standing there with a shocked expression on his face, no more sign of tears.

"And…" He whispered.

I sat there confused again.

"What?" I asked.

He stepped closer to me. I could feel the heat coming off of him. "Are you leaving me?" He whispered.

His reaction made since now, he thought I called him over to tell him I was going back to Edward. He was waiting for it.

I stood up on the step and crossed my arms. "I don't want to leave you Jake." I said this with the thought of Edward in my mind. Jacob stepped up on the step to and was pressed up against me.

"Are you sure?" He whispered at my ear.

I reached for his hand and held it. "No, Jake we're not talking about _that_ right now. Just listen…Do you forgive me for lying to you?"

"Yes, Bella I kind of figured it out anyway I recognized her scent since she was around so much after that. Oh and yes I love you, I _always _will love you." He explained kissing me lightly on the cheek.

"Oh." Was all I said.

Jacob suddenly tensed and backed away from me. I could hear a growl rip through his chest.

"What?!" I demanded.

"What the hell is he doing back here?!" He screamed as he walked towards the back of the house. Edward made it. I ran after Jacob and grabbed his arm. He shook me off too violently and I crashed against the house, tripped and fell. "Oww!" I winced in pain and I looked at the cut on my hand from the Gladys flower terrace. It didn't faze Jacob, he didn't even look back. I don't think he knew what he just did. I scrambled to my feet and chased after him wiping off the blood from my cut. I didn't want my vampire friends to smell it.

"Jacob I called him over here!" I screamed at him. He stopped and turned around.

"Why?" Jacob asked in disgust.

I threw my arms up, "I need to talk to him Jake I hadn't seen either of you in days. I can't talk to you together, obviously!" He walked over to me and took my hand.

"What happened?...Did I do this?" He held my hand examining it.

"Oh my God! Did you not hear me as I was flung against the house?!" I stated.

He looked up at me with pained eyes and looked back down at the dirty cut on the back of my hand. He glanced up at my open window and back at me. He didn't say anything as he ran into the woods morphing half way into Jacob-wolf.

"Jake!" I screamed. I stood there for a moment waiting for him to come back.

I gave up and went inside. I ran to the sink to wash off the small amount of blood from my cut so it wouldn't bother Edward but he was already at my side holding my hand escorting me to the kitchen sink. I stared at him with wide-eyes.

"You can handle this? I, I can get it… I wanted to wash it before you could smell it." I explained in a shaky voice. His laugh was somber. He looked into my eyes, "Bella, I can handle _this_, this is _hardly_ a problem for me anymore." He gave me a crooked smile. I melted right then and there. I missed that smile. I didn't say anything but just let the cold water run over the hand he was holding. He dried it off with a hand towel. He disappeared for a second and came back with Neosporin and a band-aid. I shook my head in disbelief at what he was doing for me.

"What?" He asked quietly as he was applying my bandaging.

"Nothing." I whispered.

After he was done he held my hand up and kissed it lightly on the band-aid. "All better?" He asked looking up at me from kissing my hand.

"Yes." I replied weakly, my heart beating erratically.

"You wanted to talk. I am here, all yours." He said not letting go of my hand as his and mine fell together at our sides.


	29. Someone Else

Edward and I were perched on my bed as he played with my injured hand. A slight smile kept on his face. It was silent for a few minutes. I sat there staring at him as he stroked my hand, my fingers…

"Alice told you directly or indirectly that Victoria was back." I stated finally.

"Yes, indirectly." Was all he said as he kissed the tips of my fingers, his attention fully focused on them.

"Okay." I replied. "You didn't have to come. Jacob and the wolves have been watching out for her. They already killed Laurent. You don't have to do this." I said it all to fast.

Edward stopped and gently placed my hand down on the bed. He inched closer to me and was just inches from my face, staring intently in my eyes, "Yes I do." He whispered.

"No you don't Edward! It's too dangerous! I don't want any one else I love putting themselves in danger over me!" I yelled at him.

"Bella, I'm finishing what I started." He said expressionless.

"You don't have to. I understand your reasons though. But, if this ends badly I'm not going to blame you for what the outcome is, alright? You gave me _so much_ to be thankful for okay? This isn't your war anymore. I'm not yours to protect anymore. You're off the hook, just, just go on with…with your existence. Don't stop whatever you were doing because of _me_. It's not fair to you. I, I am able to face whatever comes at me. I'm ready for this Edward." I did it. I got through my practiced statement without crying this time. I stayed up extra hours at night just finding the right words to say to him to let him go. My voice cracked with emotion through it but I actually finished without one tear escaping from my eye.

I left Edward speechless and he looked like he was dying, ironically.

"You believed it…all. You took to heart everything I said before I left you! You're even prepared to die because I brought these monsters onto you and believe that I wouldn't come back to fight this! I can see it you've thought this through. You honestly think that I would let you _die_ in the hands of them!" Edward keeled over clutching his dead heart like he was stabbed in the chest.

I sat there, my mind trying to take all of what he said and his expression in. I couldn't.

"You're not my Savior now, Edward." I whispered, sadness balling up in my throat.

He looked up at me with the same expression. "I didn't know my words when I left you would have such an effect like this."

"What did you expect?" I said with anger. "Next day, I would forget you and move on to '_God forbid'_ Mike Newton? No, Edward I've never felt so hollow inside! I woke up every day wanting death before going through one solid day of misery without you!" I said crying through my words now. This part was unexpected, I didn't practice this one. It came out too fast, it had been pent up inside me of how much I wanted to let him know what he's done to me by leaving and what the consequences would be after he left again.

"…It was the same for me except I could never wake up." He whispered, now cradling my face in his hands.

"I don't understand!" I looked down, tears strolling down my cheeks.

"Everything I did or said was out of undying love for you. I thought I could keep you alive if I left you alone. It was a failed attempt of protecting you from _any_ and _all_ harm."  
Edward whispered in my ear.

"It didn't work." I sniffled back.

He took me into his arms. "Yes, I see that now. You deserve more than a world of apologies. I will never be able to forgive myself for leaving. I love you Bella, I have always loved you, I will always love you. You never left me for a second while I was away from you! The things I said that evening were all lies. I wanted you to be safe and I knew it would be impossible with me around. All I brought with me and left behind was danger. I'm sorry. I can't say it enough." He sighed into my shoulder.

"Why couldn't you ever understand that you were the one saving me? I should have died the minute I walked into Biology my first day at school. But I didn't, because of your strength. I should have been crushed by the van in the parking lot, but you stopped it. You even held back your brother when he wanted to take a bite out of me! What did you think when you left? It would have been only a matter of time before I did myself in anyway. I can't walk outside without falling over my own feet. Danger…Magnet." I explained.

"I was the cause of…_most_ of that danger." He shuttered.

"And you were the cause of me being here now, instead rotting 8 feet under."

He cringed and shook his head.

"But, but you left, you left me there alone, in the woods! How you said each word that night, it was so true, everything you said. It was true Edward!" I stated frantically.

"No Bella it wasn't! I swear it was all a lie! I didn't mean any of it!" He tried to explain.

"Edward, _I'm not good for you_. That statement was painfully true and holds together even now. I can't ever live up to you or your standards. _I am merely _human." It was hard to conjure out the truth but he needed to understand.

"That's false Bella. You will never see yourself clearly. You don't realize that my existence before you was merely just an existence. Nothing made sense until I met you. You are my reason now for existing!" He said every declarative word filled with intensity.

"Stop being dramatic. You had almost 100 years of life before me…You can go back. You already did, it won't be hard again." I whispered looking down.

He held my face up, "I can't go back. I won't go back. You are my life. Why are you believing those few things I said in the forest that night and nothing from before? Those million times I told you I loved you and can't be without you! Why?" His face was torn with sadness and despair

"Because after you said all of those things, they didn't matter because you left me." I wouldn't look in his eyes.

"Is this irreversible Bella? There is no way I can prove to you, what I did is for unconditional love for you? Do you want me to leave? Have I completely lost everything, _you_?"

"I want you…Always. I just…I don't know what will happen when you leave…" I said in a weak voice.

"I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving you again. I'll prove it, no matter how long it may take I'll earn back your trust." Edward wrapped his arms around me and pulled me so close to him. I locked my arms around him inhaling his scent on his neck.

We sat there without saying anything with only the sound of my sniffling.

He sighed, "What is it?" I pulled back to read his expression. His face full of sadness.

"You belong to someone else now." He stated.

I was taken by surprise. Edward was obviously talking about Jacob.

I bit my lower lip and looked back at him, "I do."


	30. Next Chapter

I scrubbed methodically in the shower knowing my scent of Edward would bother Jacob.

I was in a hurry just wanting to get to La Push before Jacob made any rash decisions. When he left earlier I could tell he was a mess.

My truck plugged down the road not fast enough towards La Push.

I turned the ignition off and practically ran to the door.

Billy answered. "I'm so sorry it's late, Billy." I tried to catch my breath. He opened the door wide and let me in. "Is Jake here?" I searched the room.

"No Bella, I was hoping you knew where he was. None of the boys have heard from him since this afternoon. I'm sure he'll be back though. He doesn't like being without you for long." Billy wheeled himself to the living room.

My heart fluttered from that statement.

"Can I stay and wait for him?" I asked.

"Sure, sure Bella you can rest in his bedroom if you want. It is late. I'll let the boys know that you are here so they can pass the message along to Jacob when they get a hold of him." Billy picked up the phone to call Sam.

"Thanks so much Billy." I retreated to Jacob's room for the night.

I fell asleep while I was laying there waiting for him.

I woke up with big, warm arms around me. "Jake." I whispered.

"Mmm hmm." He responded, I could feel the vibrations deep in his chest.

I spun around so I could see him, but it was too dark to see anything. I reached for his face. "Where did you go?" I asked pressing myself to him, forcing him to hold me.

He buried his face into my neck, kissing me. "Nowhere." Is all he said.

"Jake." I whined wanting a real response from him.

"I hurt you. He was right about one thing I can hurt you, I didn't mean to. I didn't even know I did it until afterwards. I'm sorry." Jacob choked, he was on the verge of crying.

"It was only a scratch Jacob. You wouldn't hurt me. You are stronger than that." I tried to reason with him.

"No I'm a monster." He said flatly.

"Stop being dramatic." I'm growing angry. I have had far enough drama for one day, that could last me a lifetime. I let go of Jacob and pushed the covers off of me getting a whiff of Jacob's smell that was entangled in them. It was intoxicating. I tried not letting it get to me. I was putting my foot down now. I walked over to the window and sighed. I heard Jacob get out of bed and walk over to me.

"You're here." His statement thick with question.

"I am." I said without looking at him.

"Why?" He asked.

I snapped my head up and glared at him and started to walk passed him but he stopped me.

"I mean what happened?" His face softened.

"We talked, I got answers and now I'm here." I still gave a hard facade.

"And what happens next?" Jacob probed.

I turned around, ready to give up my anger. "I am not leaving you. Don't think that. Edward left me, he made his choice and now it's my turn to make a choice and my choice is you. I'm yours Jacob...If you still want me." My face turned down, remembering how he acted earlier today, he might not want me after everything, and I would understand.

His face dropped to my level. Tears were forming in his eyes. His expression reflected mine. "I always want you." He whispered his shaking hand brushed my face.

"Good." I whispered back, a tear strolled down my face. I wound my arms around his neck and he picked me up and sat me on his lap on the bed, our eyes not breaking contact with one another. We sat there for a moment tears streaming down our faces, we made it through a hard day.

Jacob broke the stare when he kissed me. His warm salt water coated lips covered mine. His kisses increased and became more passionate. His tongue made its way passed my lips, I massaged it with my own. Our breathing became erratic and he gently lay me down on the bed, Jacob was hovering over me. Suddenly his lips crushed into mine and I threw my arms around his body again. He brought me up again so I was straddling his torso. He broke away from my mouth "I thought I lost you! I was sure of it! I knew he would say something or do something to convince you to go back to him. I was thinking of ways to survive without you. Before I knew it I was crossing the border to Canada, just running....away from it all! Bella, I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going. I couldn't think of my life without you in it. Then I decided that if you did go back to Edward I would find a way to accept that and be whatever you wanted me to be to you. I couldn't believe I came up to those conclusions! But I know why I did and I've been keeping this from you and from my pack, they just found out tonight too." Jacob stopped suddenly to catch his breath. His eyes searching for any sign of negative emotion on my face.

"What?!" I asked frantically my arms constricting around his huge body.

He pulled me against his torso and let out a deep moan, his face was just a few inches from mine.

"Don't be mad, and don't be freaked out, k?" He warned.

"Oh God Jake just tell me!" I frantically kissed his lips, the corner of his mouth, back and forth. "I want to take all the pain away from what I put you through today. Just tell me!" I said before crushing my lips to his.

He pulled away and looked at me with wide eyes, "Bella, I have imprinted on you." Our breathing stopped at the same time, his eyes searching for a reaction. I was taken a back but somewhere deep down inside me I knew he had imprinted on me. I knew it all along. "Say something!" He nearly screamed.

"I...I...I know Jacob!" I spat out finally.

His expression became confused, "What?"

"Somewhere inside I knew it all along Jake." I smiled sweetly at him.

"And you are okay?" He asked speculatively.

"Yes, I'm okay with that." My expression didn't change.

He let out a sigh of relief his mouth slowing turned into a smile.

"Now, let's start the next chapter of our lives." I leaned into him and pressed my lips seductively to his. I could tell Jacob was becoming elated under my lips. He swiftly picked me up, not breaking the kiss and locked his bedroom door and walked over to the bed slowly letting me fall to it.


	31. Epilogue

**Epilogue****. **_**Critical Mass**_** ends with "Next Chapter" but I accidentally added another chapter instead of 'replacing' one yesterday and found I had over 200 visitors in 2 days because of alerts and the such. People were confused and messaged me where to find the next chapter at. Well, I felt kind of bad leading people on so here is the epilogue to **_**Critical Mass**_**. In my current story "I'll See you Soon" I get more creative and humorous and it's not such a legit Jacob and Bella story. What I'm trying to say is I am kind of having some more fun with the characters in this next story. So, with that said, Jacob haters don't hate in the next story (I'm not giving anything away just that Edward is in it a lot more) and if you like the ending the way it ended in Critical Mass, then stop reading now. If you want more I invite you into my **_**loose sequel **_**"I'll See You Soon" This ****Epilogue**** starts 6 months after Critical Mass ended.**

"Dad I can do this!" I got up on the chair and fixed the curtains in the tiny living room that now _sort of_ belonged to me.

"Alright Bells go ahead. I gotta get back to the station anyway. But before I forget I got something for you." Charlie went to the kitchen and came back with a small green box. "I put you on the police station cell phone plan, it's kind of like a family plan except instead of free family calling...Well you have free calling to and from any of the officers in Forks, including me, _your_ family." Charlie handed me a small black flip phone.

"No way Dad! Thanks so much!" I jumped off the chair and forgot about my curtains. I hugged him and then started playing with the phone. "No way it has Tetris!"

"Your Welcome. I put your phone number on the fridge. The house, my cell and the station number is already programmed in there along with all the other officers phone numbers. You can delete those if you want. You need a phone since you're no longer living with me." He patted me on the head like a little kid and walked to the door.

"Dad I'll be around all the time. I'll stop in tonight and make sure you haven't burnt the house down with your dinner!" I laughed.

"I'm ordering pizza tonight thank you very much." And with that Charlie left.

I sat on my_ sort of _new couch, a gift from Alice that came out of the Cullens house and started putting in phone numbers. The first was Jacob's but I wasn't going to call him just yet. I had a bigger something to surprise him with. _My _house.

For months we have been talking about one of us getting our own place because of the recent interruptions by our fathers and _friends _when we wanted to be _alone_. I was the oldest (Jacob should technically be still in high school), I was in college and Jacob needed to be around his house helping out his dad. That being the deciding factor on who should get their own place. I put a rent deposit down on an old one bedroom fixer-upper on the edge of Forks. I am only paying two hundred dollars month by month rent for it. This was my surprise for Jacob. I left his house this morning after spending the night and told him I was going to school. I actually came here and got my keys to the house and Alice and Jasper helped me move my stuff in. Only they did the moving since it took them less than twenty minutes and I did small things around the house including hanging curtains.

The next number I put in was Alice's cell number. She was the first one I called. It only rang once before she answered, "How much do you like it? Tell me now!" Alice squealed. She knew before I did that I was getting a cell phone by her uncanny ability to see the future before I even did.

"It's great! I can't believe Charlie did this for me! You're the first person I called!"

"Yeah I know duh!" She laughed.

"Does Edward know I have a cell phone?" I asked wanting to surprise at least someone.

"No I don't think so. He wasn't around me when I had my vision."

"Good! I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"K bye!" The phone went dead.

I saved Edward's phone number and dialed it. He answered after four rings.

"Hello?" He was thoroughly confused, this was good. No one calls Edward's phone except family and me.

"Hiiiii!" I squealed at him.

"Bella what's wrong? Where are you calling from?" His voice was panicked.

"Nothing is wrong! You ruin the surprise out of everything you know that?" I sighed.

"What did I do?" How could I be angry with that angelic sincere voice.

"Nothing. I just wanted to surprise you by calling on my new cell phone!" I went along with my surprise.

"You got a cell phone? That's great." He didn't seem too thrilled.

"You know to go along with my new house...err old...new house. Charlie got it for me you know for safety reasons. You need to save this number."

"Yes I was thinking the same thing actually." Then I heard his car window open, the wind in the phone and heard him chuck something out the window.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Going to visit our friend Mr. J. Jenks. I need a new visa."

"Why?"

"In case I need to go out of the country...legally."

_Weird he doesn't need a visa to do that_, "Oh...Do you think I should surprise Esme and Carlisle?"

He laughed, "Sure they would like that."

"Want to come over tomorrow evening and help me fix the house up?" I have included everyone but him so far, I felt bad.

"Of course I will." Edward was delighted.

I did the same to Esme and Carlisle and went through my phone book after I had my contact list complete. That's when I realized the majority of my phone book was full of vampires and werewolves. This is not normal, not normal at all.

Later that day after I cleaned the windows I made my way to La Push. I tried calling Billy's house first but no one answered. When Jacob heard the distinct sound of my truck I figured he would meet me at the house anyway. When I got there all of the boys' vehicles were parked out front. Emily came running out to meet me.

"Hey Emily!" I greeted her but then I noticed the look of panic on her face.

"Bella you're alright! We've been trying to get a hold of you all day!" I forgot to call Emily to tell her I had a new number...and a house.

"Oh sorry I should have given you my cell phone number. I was going to surprise Jake today. I have my own house now!" I exclaimed. Her face dropped. "What?"

"Have you seen Jacob today?" She seemed uneasy.

"Yeah I left him here at 7:00 AM. Why?" I was getting worried by her expression.

"He's not here Bella. No one has heard from him today." _Hmm, that is strange._

I followed Emily into the house through the hall and to Jacob's room. The boys including Billy were hovered around the bed that was stripped of its sheets and a few others were examining his dark blue blankets and sheets that were bunched up by the door.

"Bella!" Sam came to me.

"She doesn't know anything Sam. She hasn't seen him since this morning."

"What's going on?" My eyes darted everywhere.

"Jacob was supposed to meet us at 10:00 AM this morning and never showed. Even in wolf form we haven't heard anything from him. We searched everywhere. We came here and we found his bed stripped and bloody sheets on the ground. Bella do you know what happened?" Sam looked at me sternly as all of us were crowded around the bed with a blood stain in the middle. THIS...IS...NOT...HAPPENING!

I looked all the guys in the eyes, even Billy. "Umm, no." I said weakly.

Sam didn't buy it, "Bella if you know something you need to let us know, he may be hurt. We need to find out if the blood came from Jacob, we think it did. We also believe there was an altercation of some sort. His room was quite a mess when we got here. Clothes strewn about, a shirt was hanging from his ceiling fan and underwear was found on top of his bed post. His alarm clock and lamp on his table next to his bed were knocked off onto the floor. Bella this is serious!" All sets of eyes were on me. I stared at the blood stain on the middle of the bed and my hand flew to my mouth. _No, no, no!_

"Sam...There was...no altercation. That is _not _Jacob's _blood_." I barely whispered, shaking, I could feel the blood run out of _my_ face.

"What do you mean? What _did _happen Bella?" Sam's stare didn't let up. I kept my eye on the blood spot.

I felt dizzy, like I could vomit all over the bed at any moment. I looked up at Emily meekly trying to convey to her my secret.

"Bella? Bella!" Sam tried to snap me out of my daze.

"It's _my _blood." I whispered my eyes fixed on Emily. It took a few seconds after I said those words and a minute of Emily looking at the underwear and shirt on the fan and post...But Emily realized what I meant and her hand also flew up to her mouth, eyes wide.

"What? Did Jacob hurt you last night Bella? Did he lose control?" Sam still didn't get it.

I couldn't take this any longer, "Sam! Jacob and I had _sex _for the first time last night! That's _my _blood! That's why the sheets are on the floor he was going to clean them!" I screamed and burst into tears. This was too embarrassing.

The boys stared at me wide eyed for a moment then Quil groaned, dropped the sheets he was looking over and covered his mouth. He looked like he was going to vomit. Nothing was said. I didn't even have the heart to even look at Billy. He didn't need to know that his son lost his virginity last night while he was gone for the evening. I ran out of the room with tears streaming down my face, I thought I was going to hyperventilate, Emily chased after me.


End file.
